Department of Justice Activities Throughout the USA: Background and advice for State Officials and Advocates

In February 2011, Tom York was a presenter at the Association of Public and Private Developmental Disabilities Administrators annual conference. Mr. York has been practicing law for more than 30 years and has been focused on helping states to respond to the DOJ for the past 20 years. He has been the lead attorney on U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) cases in many states and most recently completed a six week trial in the DOJ suit against Arkansas. A decision in favor of the State was issued on June 7, 2011.

Mr. York opened his presentation with a warning about the motives of the DOJ. He believes that the DOJ is trying to close Public Residential Facilities (PRFs) and he gave a series of quotations by Sam Bagnestos, the head of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division to support his claims. These quotations show that Mr. Bagnestos’ personal philosophy is anti public residential facilities. Mr. York also presented the arguments that the DOJ is using in CRIPA, ADA, and Olmstead suits. Read More.