How Automated Benefits Determinations Violate Disabled People’s Constitutional Due Process Rights and Increase Risk of Institutionalization

February 23, 2021
Laptop, a pair of hands on the keyboard, another hand pointing at screen
If you blinked, you might have missed it.

At the end of 2020, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals published an important decision in Waskul, et al. v. Washtenaw County Community Mental Health. In the case, five people with developmental disabilities sued the state of Michigan and Washtenaw County after the county was allowed to implement a new budget methodology for their services and health care. The state tried to stop the case from moving to trial, but the Sixth Circuit decided that the plaintiffs’ facts were compelling enough for their arguments to be heard. Their decision offers some important language and potential tips for other advocates. [...]