Disability Rights and Justice 50 Years After Willowbrook
11.7.2025
It’s been more than 50 years since the outside world first saw the horrific, inhumane treatment of disabled children at the Willowbrook State School. The 1972 television expose by journalist Geraldo Rivera led to sweeping changes and sparked the beginning of the disability rights movement. When interviewed about his groundbreaking work in a 2023 documentary, Rivera said, “When I saw Willowbrook, it was something that seared my soul.”
The New York State Bar Association is hosting a continuing legal education course, 2025 Disability Rights and Justice Series: Fifty Years After Willowbrook, which examines the experiences of Willowbrook residents who are part of a class action lawsuit filed in 1975.
The Nov. 18 program will examine the Willowbrook consent degree as the foundational document of the case and how it enabled class members to leave the institution and receive services in the community. The program will also highlight the risk that those with intellectual and developmental disabilities will have to return to institutions when there are not enough community resources.
In 1993, the Willowbrook Permanent Injunction, which details the services that class members receive, was signed. A Beyond Willowbrook section of the website of the state Office for People with Developmental Disabilities outlines the services, rights and protections for Willowbrook class members.
The course features three experts in the field:
- Justice Sheila Shea, Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department.
- Beth Haroules, director of disability justice litigation, New York Civil Liberties Union.
- Joseph A. Glazer, deputy commissioner, Westchester County Department of Community Mental Health.
The New York State Bar Association program is free for members and is sponsored by the association’s Committee on Disability Rights. Attorneys who attend will earn 1.5 MCLE credits.
