When the Atlanta Legal Aid Society began representing two women with mental disabilities 20 years ago, none of the lawyers expected to be on the crest of a new civil rights movement.

When Legal Aid lawyer Sue Jamieson first began representing the woman who would become the lead plaintiff in Olmstead v. L.C and E.W., Lois Curtis was housed at a state psychiatric hospital in Atlanta. She was developmentally disabled and diagnosed with schizophrenia, but the medical professionals treating her had determined that, while she needed community residential services, involuntary hospitalization was no longer warranted.