The Peonage Cases

Abstract

The decade of the 1970s proved to be one of momentous decisions, particularly for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The filing of Wyatt v. Stickney,² a class action lawsuit over conditions at Bryce Hospital, Partlow State School, and Searcy State Hospital in Alabama in 1970 would set the stage for a decades-long litigation over conditions in public institutions. In 1971, the ICF/MR program was established. The ICF/MR program gave made it possible for states to use federal Medicaid funding for their state-run institutions for individuals with intellectual disabilities for the first time. Geraldo Rivera’s 1972 investigation of Willowbrook State School for the mentally retarded thrust institution conditions into the public consciousness when it aired on national television. The deplorable conditions at Willowbrook ultimately became the focus of another seminal lawsuit—NYSARC & Parisi v. Carey.³

Look at my face, toil-furrowed; look at my calloused hands;

Master, I’ve done Thy bidding, wrought in Thy many lands—

Wrought for the little masters, big-bellied they be, and rich;

I’ve done their desire for a daily hire, and I die like a dog in a ditch.¹