Legal Advocacy
State and Federal Court
-
Sanchez v. Johnson
On August 2, 2001, the United States District Court granted Plaintiffs' motion for class certification in the Sanchez v. Johnson case, a lawsuit filed by DREDF and co-counsel, the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia, against various agencies of the state of California on behalf of persons with developmental disabilities. The lawsuit alleged that as a consequence of the state's systematic under-funding of community services for persons with developmental disabilities, low wages and benefits are paid to community workers, such that adequate community-based services are in short supply or unavailable, thereby forcing institutionalization upon people who would be otherwise capable of living in the community. Plaintiffs wanted the state to set payments for community services so that direct care staff will earn a competitive wage substantially equal to the wages of their counterparts in state institutions.
On August 2, 2005, the Ninth Circuit US Court of Appeals issued a disappointing opinion in Sanchez v. Johnson.
Read a summary of the opinion.
