Brooklyn Judge Reversed in Mentally Ill Housing Case
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court on Friday reversed a judge's order making the state provide apartments and small homes to thousands of mentally ill people, questioning the scope of the order and delaying a resolution to a controversy that even the court acknowledged will continue.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said the Albany-based plaintiff — Disability Advocates Inc. — lacked standing to bring the claim because it was a non-membership organization with limited interaction with the people it claimed to represent. The nonprofit is contracted to provide services to New York's Protection and Advocacy System.
The ruling takes the 9-year-old case back to the starting block on an issue that is being grappled with by several other states, including Connecticut and Illinois.