E.W. and L.C. Celebrate Settlement After Olmstead Decision by Dave Reynolds Inclusion Daily Express July 12, 2000 ATLANTA, GEORGIA--Elaine Wilson and Lois Curtis, who had been identified only by their initials in their suit against the State of Georgia, will never have to go to an institution. Never. And thanks to them and their lawsuit, neither will thousands of other Americans who have disabilities. Yesterday, the women known as E.W. and L.C. in the famous Olmstead case were on hand as U.S. District Senior Judge Marvin Shoob accepted a settlement from the state that ensures community-based supports for them. Three years ago, Shoob ruled that putting the women in institutions while denying them community-based services amounted to segregation and illegal discrimination. Last summer, the Supreme Court upheld Shoob's ruling, stating that the Americans with Disabilities Act protects people with disabilities from being "unnecessarily institutionalized" if they are "appropriate for community services". The landmark case could mean that thousands of people who are currently in institutions, and countless others who have not yet been institutionalized, would be granted community supports rather than institutions. "When I was in the hospital, I felt like I was in a little box, and I couldn't get out," said Wilson, 48. "Now that I'm in the free world, I love my freedom!" Curtis, 32, said she can now exercise the right to listen to her radio and do other things she was never allowed to do before. The Southwest Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center (DBTAC) has a summary of the Olmstead decision and other Supreme Court rulings affecting the ADA at: http://www.ilru.org/dbtac/ReviewofSupremeCourtDecisions_.html#Olmstead The Supreme Court decision on Olmstead vs. L.C. & E.W. can be found on the Cornell Law School's website: http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/98-536.ZS.html --- Dave Reynolds, Editor Inclusion Daily Express [log in to unmask] http://www.InclusionDaily.com