New Cases and Amicus Briefs

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New Cases and Amicus Briefs

Cases

New Cases and Amicus Briefs

DRC V. Gavin Newsom

On January 26, 2023, Disability Rights California (DRC), Western Center on Law & Poverty, and The Public Interest Law Project filed an original petition for writ of mandate to the California Supreme Court. The petition was filed on behalf of DRC as an organization and challenges the constitutional validity of the Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Act, also known as the CARE Act.

A.F.B. v Becerra

Case no. 8:22-cv-1498 (C.D. Cal, filed 8/11/22). DRC filed an emergency writ of habeas corpus and federal complaint on behalf of A.F.B., a 14-year old Afghan unaccompanied refugee child, seeking to immediately enjoin the federal government and its contractor from transferring A.F.B. from a youth shelter to a private psychiatric hospital in Utah. The lawsuit argues that the transfer violates the minor’s 14th Amendment right to procedural due process and his right to placement in the least restrictive setting under Section 504, Title III of the ADA, and California’s Unruh Act. The transfer had been planned for the following day, but immediately upon filing, the District Court prohibited the government from moving A.F.B. to the psychiatric hospital. Eventually, the government instead agreed to transfer him to an unlocked group home in Southern California, which is far less restrictive.

Reed v. Fox

Case No. 2:19-cv-0275 (E.D. Cal.) DRC filed suit for a disabled state prisoner in a lawsuit against California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, seeking ADA-complaint handrails in the California Medical Facility as a violation disability discrimination protections. The suit also challenges the unconstitutional denial of urgent medical care.

Rodriguez v. Superior Court of Santa Clara County

DRC and the ACLU of Northern California filed an amicus brief with to the California Supreme Court arguing that commitments for people found Incompetent to Stand Trial (IST) should end when the judge orders that a defendant has regained competency, not the state agency’s finding of competency.

In re: BZR amicus

DRC helped draft and submit an amicus to the United States Attorney General, arguing that it should reverse a decision by the Bureau of Immigration Appeals in Matter of G-G-S. That bad decision held that relevant evidence of an immigrant’s mental and cognitive disabilities must be considered when determining whether an individual was convicted of a “particularly serious crime” within the meaning of 8 U.S.C. §§ 1158(b)(2)(A)(ii) and 1231(b)(3)(B)(ii). The amicus was successful, and the Attorney General agreed to not follow the bad administrative decision.

Tulare County Investigation and Demand Letter

After a year-long investigation, DRC made findings that Tulare County fails to provide adequate community-based crisis services and instead employs coercive practices in county emergency departments, hospitals, jails, and during investigations and arrests that result in needless institutionalization and incarceration of large numbers of adults and youth with mental health disabilities. On August 11, 2022, DRC sent a demand letter to the County, asking for it to make several changes recommended by crisis response and criminal justice experts who consulted on the investigation.