On May 15, 1996 plaintiffs, a group of individuals with psychiatric disorders who were housed in locked nursing facilities but were eligible for community-based treatment, sued the California Department of Mental Health, the California Department of Health Services, and various officials in their official capacity in the District Court for the Northern District of California. They alleged that the failure of the state to place them in community treatment facilities violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Medicaid Act, and the Nursing Care Reform Act of 1987. They sought class status and declaratory and injunctive relief.

On December 2, 1996 the district court (Judge Stanley A. Weigel) ruled that the various officials named in the suit did not enjoy official immunity. The state appealed but on July 3, 1997 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (Judges Goodwin, Nelson, and Trott) affirmed the district court.

The case came to a close on October 20, 1997 when the district court (Vaughn R. Walker) entered a voluntary dismissal after appropriate placements in community-based treatment facilities were found for the named plaintiffs.

Michael Perry - 01/10/2011


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