VOR Remembers Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

The following is a tribute from VOR, a Voice Of Reason, to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who died last week at the age of eighty-seven. She was best known among disability advocates for her majority opinion in the 1999 ruling in Olmstead v. L.C.. The Court determined that under the Americans with Disabilities Act, states must move people with disabilities to community settings if treatment professionals determine that such a placement is appropriate, if the individual does not oppose such a move and if the placement can be “reasonably accommodated.” 

VOR is a national organization that represents people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families, including people with severe to profound IDD, many of whom live in Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities, ICFs/IID. VOR played a key role in Olmstead by submitting an amicus brief that was quoted by Justice Ginsburg that made it clear that at times the "most integrated setting" for an individual may be an institution.

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VOR Remembers Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg 

“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” - Ruth Bader Ginsburg

It is with great sadness that VOR mourns the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and with great joy that we celebrate her life and the gift that she gave to our families and our loved ones with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

We wish to thank Justice Ginsburg for having heard our voice, and for having included an amicus brief submitted by VOR in her opinion attached to the Court’s landmark ruling in Olmstead: 

“Each disabled person is entitled to treatment in the most integrated setting possible for that person – recognizing that, on a case-by-case basis, that setting may be in an institution.” - Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581, 605 (1999)(quoting Brief of VOR et al., as Amici Curiae at 11)

The Olmstead decision is often misrepresented as an ‘integration mandate’, but that’s not true. By including the ideas of VOR and others in her opinion, Justice Ginsburg declared Olmstead a mandate for choice.

141 organizations and family groups signed on in support of VOR’s brief, which was written and submitted on our behalf by Attorney Bill Burke, with input and guidance from VOR's past presidents Polly Spare, Marilyn Straw, and Mary McTernan, Government Affairs Director Tamie Hopp, attorney Sam Golden, and other members.

Justice Ginsburg taught us that if we persist, and if we unite with others to strengthen our voice, our voice can be heard - from the homes of a few concerned families, all the way to the highest court in the land.

Justice Ginsburg left us with many memorable quotes. Here are two, both relevant to VOR's cause and our mission:

“You can disagree without being disagreeable."

"Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.”

For more information on the Olmstead Decision, please visit our website at:
https://www.vor.net/get-help/more-resources/item/olmstead-resources-2

"I would like to be remembered as someone who used whatever talent she had to do her work to the very best of her ability."
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 1933 - 2020