On August 11, 2016 , the Attorney General and Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") filed this lawsuit in the Southern District of Mississippi. The DOJ sued the State of Mississippi under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. §§ 12131) and the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA) 42 U.S.C. § 1997. The DOJ asked the court to enjoin the State of Mississippi from discriminating against adults with mental illness and failing to provide them with appropriate integrated community programs.

The DOJ claimed that Mississippi violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by "administering the State's mental health service system in a manner that denies qualified adults with mental illness the benefits of the State's mental health services." See Complaint. Further, the DOJ argued that State hospitals were segregated because they restricted contact with non-disabled people and presented a lack of meaningful choice for patients in opportunities such as choosing friends, food, living space, activities, and participating in employment.

On October 24, 2016, the State filed a motion to consolidate this case with Troupe v. Barbour, a case filed in the Southern District of Mississippi that commenced in 2010. In that case, four minor plaintiffs made claims against the State regarding its treatment of them as children with mental illness. On December 6, a magistrate judge found the cases to have common questions of law and fact and ordered their consolidation. However, soon afterward, the plaintiffs in both cases filed a motion for reconsideration of the consolidation. On March 19, 2017, District Court Judge Henry T. Wingate vacated the December 6 consolidation order, finding that there were few common questions of fact between the cases and that consolidating them would result in undue delays and injustice to the plaintiffs.

As of October 27, 2017, the case was ongoing and the parties were engaging in discovery.

Neil Tiwari - 10/04/2016
Lauren Latterell Powell - 10/27/2017


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