On January 24, 1994, individual plaintiffs, the Pennsylvania Protection Advocacy, Inc. and Arc-Pennsylvania filed this class action civil rights lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, challenging the care, conditions of confinement and habilitation of residents of Embreeville Center, a facility for the developmentally disabled in Pennsylvania. Plaintiffs alleged violation of their rights under Title XIX of the Social Security Act; the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; the Due Process Clause, Equal Protection Clause and the First Amendment via 42 U.S.C. § 1983; and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The plaintiff class was represented by attorneys with the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia and the Disabilities Law Project Philadelphia. The suit was styled Nelson v. Martin, Civil Action No. 94-CV- 440. It followed a similar suit filed by the Department of Justice [DOJ] on April 21, 1993, pursuant to the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, 42 U.S.C. Section 1997 et seq., styled U.S. v. Pennsylvania, Civil Action No. 93-CV-2094. [ID-PA-7 of this collection].

On March 28, 1994, the District Court (Judge Clarence C. Newcomer) ordered that the Nelson case be consolidated with U.S. v. Pennsylvania. Case no. 94-CV- 440 was closed for statistical purposes.



The plaintiff class was certified by the District Court on April 26, 1994, with an amended order following on May 11, 1994. Following discovery and motion practice, the case was settled. The District Court approved the Settlement Agreement on November 30, 1994, which resulted in the downsizing and eventual closing of the Embreeville Center. A subsequent Stipulated Agreement was entered on March 20, 2000.

On January 5, 2005, the Stipulated Agreement was terminated and the case was dismissed agreement of the parties.

See U.S. v. Pennsylvania, Civil Action No. 93-CV-2094. [ID-PA-7] for a more detailed account of the procedural history of the consolidated cases.

Dan Dalton - 03/17/2007


compress summary