In May 2025, DRA and Nichols Kaster, PLLP filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts against Harvard University for its systematic discrimination against students with mental health disabilities. DRA brought this suit on behalf of Students 4 Mental Health Justice (S4MHJ), a student-led advocacy organization whose membership includes current … Continue reading “Students 4 Mental Health Justice v. Harvard”
In January 2025, following a sweeping undercover investigation by housing watchdog group Housing Rights Initiative (HRI), DRA filed the largest housing discrimination case in Illinois history against 165 real estate agents, brokerage firms, and landlords alleging they illegally discriminated against low-income families who sought to use Housing Choice Vouchers (“Section 8”). The 176 complaints against … Continue reading “Housing Rights Initiative v. 160+ Housing Providers”
Disability Rights Advocates and Learning Rights Law Center filed suit to challenge an administrative law judge’s ruling that let a major school district off the hook for failing to ensure provision of special education services to a young student at one of its charter schools. After the plaintiff was wrongly exited from special education at … Continue reading “A.C. v. Los Angeles Unified School District”
In May 2024, DRA filed a class action lawsuit along with The Legal Aid Society and Winston & Strawn LLP on behalf of incarcerated New Yorkers with disabilities against the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (“DOCCS”) and the New York State Office of Mental Health (“OMH”) for their ongoing violations of … Continue reading “Anthony v. New York State Department of Corrections & Community Supervision (DOCCS)”
In May 2024, DRA and Mental Hygiene Legal Services (MHLS) released a report titled “Denial of Fresh Air Access for Psychiatric Patients: A Report on NYC H+H Hospitals.” This report outlines findings from a months-long investigation into the denial of fresh air and outdoor access to individuals receiving psychiatric treatment in hospitals operated by NYC … Continue reading “Denial of Fresh Air to Patients at NYC City-Run Psychiatric Hospitals”
On September 5, 2023, DRA initiated legal action to prevent the City of Berkeley from conducting evictions of unhoused Berkeley residents who reside on 8th and Harrison Street until there are sufficient provisions of shelter, housing, or alternative accommodations that take into consideration their disability-related needs.
In August 2023, Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) and Disability Rights California (DRC) released a report, “Youth in Crisis: How Kings County Locks Up Youth With Disabilities.” This report outlines findings from a multi-year investigation of the conditions at the Kings County Juvenile Center. Read the full report with recommendations and images of the facility. DRA … Continue reading “Kings County Juvenile Center”
In May 2023, DRA and DREDF filed a group complaint with the United States Department of Justice on behalf of four law school graduates with disabilities against the State Bar of California for consistently violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to provide accommodations on the California bar exam. Read the complaint. The State … Continue reading “Complainants v. State Bar of California”
In 2022, DRA joined the plaintiffs’ counsel team in Disability Rights Tennessee’s lawsuit on behalf of several d/Deaf Tennesseans with intellectual and developmental disabilities and/or mental health disabilities and Disability Rights Tennessee to challenge the State of Tennessee’s failure to ensure that effective communication is provided to d/Deaf people who receive services from the Tennessee … Continue reading “Battle v. Tennessee”
In October 2022, DRA, ACLU Foundation of Northern California, Legal Aid of Sonoma County, and California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. filed suit against the city of Sebastopol for enacting an ordinance that prohibits vehicles “used for human habitation” from parking anywhere within city limits during the day. This action, aimed at driving the city’s most … Continue reading “Yesue v. Sebastopol”