Damage Cases
The Center has pioneered the use of civil rights damage cases both to establish new standards of care for persons with disabilities, and to secure just compensation for the violation of their legal rights. The Center has conducted workshops, prepared technical assistance manuals, published law review articles, developed a library of pleadings, and provided extensive technical assistance to public interest and private attorneys on litigating damage actions to reform systems of care for persons with disabilities. See Establishing Standards for Care of Persons with Disabilities through Damage Actions, 17 New York University Review of Law and Social Change 651 (1990).Documents and pleadings which may be helpful to attorneys litigating or considering the litigation of disability law related cases are available by following the links below.
A description of the problem and a survey of cases alleging use of excessive force (resulting in injury or death) against people with mental illness: Use of force by police against people with psychiatric disabilities 10/1/2002
A lengthy and comprehensive annotated list of reported and some unreported damage cases involving persons with disabilities. The list was most recently updated in March 2008. The document is quite long and may take a few minutes to download: 
Damage Case List -- Annotated
The documents contained on this page and within this web site do not constitute legal advice. Anyone engaged in legal action should consult with an attorney. Attorneys should make their own independent judgments. Local laws vary and the law may have changed since these documents were written. Litigants should fully research any claims or defenses before making them.