Press Releases & Statements

(Bakersfield, CA) - On June 5, 2020, a federal court approved the final settlement reached between the Parties on behalf of youth with disabilities detained at Kern County Juvenile Facilities, who were represented by Disability Rights California (DRC) and Disability Rights Advocates (DRA).

(San Diego, CA) Disability Rights California (DRC) submitted a letter on June 11, 2020, to the Superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) urging them to provide students with disabilities special education & related services amid school closures in response to COVID-19.

(Sacramento, CA) On June 9, 2020, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) released new “Crisis Care Guidelines” for COVID-19 that affirm that health care providers may not discriminate based on the age or disability of patients when deciding how to allocate scarce resources.

(Sacramento, CA) On behalf of the numerous individuals who have perished in restraint chairs in county jails across the United States and California, Disability Rights California (DRC) published its findings and recommendations in a report released today, “The Cruel and Unusual Use of Restraint Chairs in California Jails: A Call to Action.”

(San Diego, California) Yesterday, on behalf of five homeless individuals with disabilities and an association serving them, Food Not Bombs, Disability Rights California filed a lawsuit against the City of San Diego for failure to provide access to hotel rooms for homeless individuals amid COVID-19. 

(Sacramento, CA) Disability Rights California supports the Executive Order Governor Gavin Newsom released yesterday, which requires a minimum number of in-person voting options and ballot drop-off locations to registered voters in the weeks and days leading up to the November election. This will provide access to accessible voting machines, which many voters with disabilities need in order to vote privately and independently.

(Bakersfield, CA) On May 1, 2020, Disability Rights California (DRC) submitted a letter to the Superintendent of Bakersfield City School District (BCSD) urging them to provide students with disabilities special education services and supports amid school closures in response to COVID-19.

(Los Angeles, CA) - On April 30, 2020, the Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of students with disabilities seeking access to West Los Angeles College (WLAC), part of the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), the largest District in the country.

SAN FRANCISCO – Today, Disability Rights California and Disability Rights Advocates filed a class action lawsuit against the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) on behalf of deaf individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). The lawsuit charges the state agency with discrimination against deaf people who depend on regional center programs and services funded and administered by DDS. DDS’s data indicates that there are likely more than 5,000 deaf consumers who rely on its program.

(Sacramento, CA ) Today, Disability Rights California issues an open letter to call upon state policy makers and healthcare providers to ensure individuals with disabilities are not discriminated against in response to COVID-19 by denying them medical care.

(Baltimore, MD) -  The National Federation of the Blind (NFB), America’s civil rights organization of the blind, and two blind individuals, Lisa Irving and Amy Bonano, have reached a court-ordered settlement of the lawsuit they filed in 2017 against the Social Security Administration (SSA).

(Sacramento, CA) - Today, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients and advocates head to the State Capitol to meet with legislators and share first-hand testimony about living on SSI at the State Assembly Budget Hearing. The coalition -- which includes more than 200 organizations -- centers individuals living on SSI in accordance with the disability rights motto “nothing about us without us.”

(Orange County, CA ) The primarily disabled and elderly residents of Green Lantern Mobile Home Parks and Village, primarily elderly Vietnamese residents, will be welcoming this Lunar New Year with the knowledge that they will be able to stay in their homes. On January 16, 2020, the City of Westminster terminated the conversion application sought by the owner of Green Lantern Village mobile home park seeking to close the park and redevelop it into a luxury development.

(Concord, CA) On January 9, 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reached a settlement agreement with Anova Center for Education (Anova), a non-public school for students with autism in the Bay Area.

(LOS ANGELES, CA) - Thousands of Medi-Cal beneficiaries with significant disabilities will now be able to access affordable Medi-Cal care at home, rather than going to a nursing facility. In-home care provides greater stability and health outcomes for individuals and families, and it is cost-effective for the state; but it can be prohibitively costly to pay for out-of-pocket. As a result, married people with disabilities often have to make a draconian choice: impoverish themselves and their spouses or go to a nursing facility.

(Sacramento, CA) On January 13, 2020, on behalf of the nearly 3,700 people incarcerated in Sacramento County’s jails, Disability Rights California, Prison Law Office, and Cooley LLP secured final federal court approval of a settlement with the County to address the dangerous and unconstitutional conditions of the County’s jails. The settlement of this class action lawsuit, Mays v. County of Sacramento, E.D. Cal. No. 2:18-cv-02081-TLN-KJN (PC), resulted from an extensive investigation into jail conditions and years of intensive negotiations with the County.

SACRAMENTO, CA - The Sacramento City Unified School District (District) and plaintiffs suing the District for alleged discrimination against students based on race and disability asked the federal court to pause litigation so the parties may seek potential resolution through settlement.