Media Coverage

A low-income family that is paid by the state for taking care of a mentally disabled child at home does not have to count that pay as income when seeking housing benefits, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday in a Bay Area case.

As a blind man, Guillermo Robles successfully sued Domino’s Pizza because the chain failed to build a website that was as accessible to him as its brick-and-mortar restaurants.

Many severely mentally ill Californians are cycling in-and-out of forced psychiatric holds due to a lack of treatment options when they’re released, according to a report this week from the state auditor.

California’s half-century-old involuntary mental health treatment law isn’t broken, but much of the system meant to serve those with serious mental illness is, state auditors concluded in a much-anticipated report released today.

The suit alleges the named plaintiffs are in greater need of hotel placements due to underlying medical conditions that make them more vulnerable to COVID-19.

Plaintiffs in a lawsuit accusing San Diego city officials of failing to adequately protect disabled and homeless people during the COVID-19 pandemic have amended their lawsuit which argues they are being discriminated against by the city, an attorney said Tuesday.

Plaintiffs in a lawsuit accusing San Diego city officials of failing to adequately protect disabled and homeless people during the COVID-19 pandemic have amended their lawsuit, which argues they are being discriminated against by the city, an attorney said Tuesday.

Attorneys representing five local homeless individuals and their families in a lawsuit against the city and county of San Diego said Tuesday their clients should be provided access to county-funded hotel and motel rooms during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly due to being at high risk of contracting the virus.

After years of negotiations, Plaintiffs’ Counsel, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office and the County of Santa Barbara have reached a settlement in Clay Murray et al v. County of Santa Barbara et al, a class-action lawsuit regarding conditions of confinement at the County Jail.

The parents of an 11-year-old Black student have filed a complaint against the Moreno Valley Unified School District alleging campus resource officers discriminated against the boy when they handcuffed him four separate times for displaying non-threatening, disability-related defiance.

Sen. Steve Glazer’s legislative agenda – including a three-bill package to help residents survive power outages – cleared the Senate this spring and moved to the Assembly despite challenging conditions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kern County has settled a class-action lawsuit filed by two disability rights groups that challenged alleged discrimination against disabled youth took place at the county’s juvenile detention facilities.

Despite the difficulties of riding a bus due to her knee and back problems, Valentina Zakatova took one every weekday to Altamedix, an adult day center in Sacramento, before the coronavirus pandemic.

For Héctor Ramírez, routine is important. He has rituals that are comforting to him, like taking his service dog on two walks every day.

The trio were part of a small but vocal movement of Americans who just can’t abide rules requiring masks in order to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Well the COVID-19 count in the Lompoc Federal Penitentiary is up to more than 90 as of April 14—and lord knows it’s probably higher now. As as far as we know, 67 of those are inmates. 

Between the Santa Barbara County Jail and the Lompoc federal prison, starkly different situations are unfolding. While the Lompoc prison suffers from the worst COVID-19 outbreak in the county—67 inmates and 24 staff members tested positive as of April 14—the county jail had no confirmed inmate cases as of April 10.

A disabled-rights attorney is calling for the City to end its moratorium prohibiting vehicle habitation throughout most of the City, warning policies punishing people without housing and forcing them into crowded shelters or safe lots will worsen the COVID-19 pandemic.

As Santa Barbara County residents are continuing to follow the mandatory shelter-in-place order, domestic violence incidents have increased, so the county is calling on all residents to report abuse occurring behind closed doors.

At a time when state and local officials ask that we shelter in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the need for a safe and affordable place to live has intensified. But COVID-19 has unveiled that our systems and structures are broken, and for too many Californians, sheltering in place is not an option.