Olmstead Act turns 10
Ten years ago the Olmstead Act was put into law. This act removed the last of the “ugly” laws that controlled where and how disabled people lived in the state of Georgia. A lawsuit then started where land owners and home owner associations tried to make their rules against the disabled the official law of the land. They lost their case and now the disabled can live anywhere they want, thanks to the lawyers and judge tied to the case. A symposium, “Toward the Future: A constitutional right to community services” is coming to Atlanta. This is a chance to talk to the judge presiding over the case, the last living plaintiff, and other experts in disability law. Everyone who is a care giver or the disabled themselves should come to this symposium. We need to keep up to date on what is happening in disability law so that we never have to fight “ugly” laws ever again. Information about the symposium can be found at this website. We will keep you up to date on this symposium as it comes up in the calendar so you can fit it into your schedule. This is an awesome opportunity to see and hear what happened in a landmark civil rights case in the United States. It is sad that ten years ago there were laws in place to make sure the disabled had to live in nursing homes and away from loved ones or the community. These laws, created by land owners, home associations and others tried to control where the disabled lived and how they lived their lives. The communities didn’t want to see people in wheelchairs, walkers, or other implements because they were “ugly” and detracted from neighborhoods and malls. These people felt that nursing homes were the ideal place to live out the remainder of your life if you were disabled. There was no need to leave the nursing home or to live anywhere else. The Olmstead Act changed the landscape of civil rights in the state of Georgia by allowing the disabled to live anywhere they wanted regardless of any local laws. It is our job to watch over our civil rights so that they are not trampled by those that hate the disabled. African Americans are very aware of how important it is to stay on top of civil rights issues because they directly effect their day to day lives. As an example, insurance companies have been caught “red lining” neighborhoods that had minorities and dramatically increased their rates. The disability community as a whole has to fight these kinds of attacks on our civil rights. That means we all need to get involved and keep in touch with our elected officials as well as each other. Spinal Cord Resources Network has comment sections for each article exactly for the reason to get your ideas out to the media and each other. This is something all disabled people need to do. Elected officials that are able bodied don’t understand what we are up against until we call or write to let them know. Things like the ugly laws in Georgia will never change until those in the Olmstead group did something about it and demanded their rights. Everyone pitching in will make the difference that we are all looking for.
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