Florida Ass’n for Retarded Citizens v. Martinez

Case No. 79-418-Orl-Civ-18 (M.D. Fla., JJ. Young, Kovachevich & Sharp)
Major decrees entered in Oct. 1982, June 1985, June 1986 & Nov. 1989;
Significant orders reported or summarized in 7 ABA Mental Disab. L. Rptr. 464-65 (1983);
7 ABA Mental Disab. L. Rptr. 57-62 (1983); 3 ABA Mental Disab. L. Rptr. 406-07 (1979).
Florida Ass’n of Retarded Persons, Inc., v. Bush, 246 F.3d 1296 (11th Cir. 2001).

We served as co-counsel in trial proceedings (retained by court-appointed guardian ad litem to represent the class) and as lead counsel on enforcement and compliance. In 1982, an injunction required the phase down and ultimate closure of an institution with concurrent development of a new system of residential settings for class members in their home communities. This was the first case in the United States to result in the judicially directed final closure of an institution for citizens with developmental disabilities.

The new system of homes was required to be licensed under the federal "Intermediate Care Facility/Mentally Retarded." Prior to transfer to the new community facilities, class members were to be comprehensively assessed and provided physical therapy services, including new adaptive positioning devices to correct for progressive deformity due to historical absence of appropriate physical management. The injunction also required comprehensive assessment of class members being fed by tubes. The institution was obligated to restore normal eating whenever appropriate and to reduce dependence on artificial feeding. Subsequent court orders required outside independent evaluations by a court ordered nutritional management team. Court-appointed professional treatment teams implemented the physical and nutritional management requirements and created a fabrication shop for the positioning devices because there was no other source for the devices.