CPR has influenced the development of legal doctrine and caselaw pertaining to community integration, through research, analysis, and publication of law review articles on a range of topics affecting the rights and choices of people with disabilities, as well as complex litigation strategies to enforce and expand those rights. A list of those articles can be found here.
In order to explain and advance the principle of informed choice for people with disabilities confined in segregated settings and institutions, CPR published a law review on the 20th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Olmstead v. L.C. The article traces the evolution of the Olmstead case, reviews lower court decisions addressing the choice prong of the Court’s holding in Olmstead, develops an innovative analysis for deciding if a person has waived the ADA right to live in the most integrated setting, and proposes criteria for assessing informed choice for institutionalized persons. See, Realizing the Promise of Olmstead: Ensuring Informed Choice of Institutionalized Individuals with Disabilities to Receive Services in the Most Integrated Setting (Georgia 40 Journal of Law and Medicine 1 (Jan-March 2020).
Litigating Olmstead cases on behalf of groups of people with disabilities has become more difficult as a result of federal court decisions on class actions. To guide disability advocates and public interest attorneys, CPR conducted a comprehensive analysis of class action decisions involving institutionalized persons with disabilities, and drafted a comprehensive law review article that discusses each requirement for certifying a case as a class action. The article was published as part of a symposium celebrating the 30th anniversary of the ADA. See, The Commonality of Difference: A Framework for Obtaining Class Certification in ADA Cases After Wal-Mart, 71 Syracuse Law Rev. 3 (2021).