Choosing what to eat. Having a room of your own and feeling safe within its privacy. Choosing whether to go out to a movie or watch one at home. Choosing whether or when to have your family visit. Having a job. Deciding when or whether to become a parent. These basic assertions of personal dignity give meaning to life. The Institutionalized Persons Project is dedicated to assuring that the rights outlined in the Constitution really do apply to everyone.

For more than 20 years, ACLU attorneys have brought class action lawsuits on behalf of children and people with disabilities living in government-funded institutions and programs. Our Institutionalized Persons Project has led the fight to overturn the corrupt political culture that has caused needless suffering by our clients and great expense for Illinois taxpayers.

ACLU attorneys, in partnership with other disability rights organizations, initiated three groundbreaking lawsuits seeking the reform of state-subsidized health care systems for people who are developmentally, psychiatrically and physically disabled.

Ligas v. Maram: The ACLU represents adults with developmental disabilities who reside in private state-funded institutions in a suit to force Illinois to comply with the Constitution and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Despite the ADA’s mandate that people with disabilities receive services in the most integrated appropriate setting, Illinois remains last in the country in offering small community based placements for these individuals, forcing thousands of people to live in segregated institutions in order to receive care.

Williams v. Quinn, et al:  We filed suit on behalf of the mentally ill Illinois residents who are currently living in large-scale institutional housing in conditions that range from cold and institutional to filthy and dangerous. Our suit argues that these residents could be better served for the same or less expense in small, community-based settings.

Colbert v. Quinn:  We filed suit on behalf of people with physical and psychiatric disabilities who are unnecessarily and illegally confined to nursing homes as a prerequisite to receiving services.