https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-finds-alameda-county-california-violates-americans-disabilities-act-and-us

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEThursday, April 22, 2021

Justice Department Finds that Alameda County, California, Violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and the U.S. Constitution

The Justice Department concluded today, based upon a thorough investigation, that there is reasonable cause to believe that Alameda County is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in its provision of mental health services, and that conditions and practices at the county’s Santa Rita Jail violate the U.S. Constitution and the ADA.

The department’s investigation found that the county fails to provide services to qualified individuals with mental health disabilities in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs. Instead, it unnecessarily institutionalizes them at John George Psychiatric Hospital and other facilities. In Olmstead v. L.C., the U.S. Supreme Court held that Title II of the ADA requires public entities to provide community-based services to persons with disabilities when appropriate services can reasonably be…