Past Cases & Projects

Philadelphian with disabilities threatened with eviction for exercising her rights

Landlord Pelham Court LP threatened Brenda Harrison with eviction when she withheld rent while confined to her apartment by a broken elevator. She is now suing in federal court under the Fair Housing Act.

Curtis Shiver and Carolyn Shiver v. Moshe Zenwirth and EY Realty

Curtis and Carolyn Shiver are low-income parents of four children in Philadelphia. Shortly after moving into their new home in July of 2016, the Shivers faced a wide range of problems with the home, including a lack of electricity, flooding in the basement and backyard, and heating issues. After repeated complaints to EY Realty, the […]

Zoning Laws & Methadone Treatment

In 1999, Pennsylvania passed a law that banned methadone treatment facilities from being placed within 500 feet of any school, public playground, public park, residential housing area, child-care facility, church, meetinghouse, or other community facility without specific approval from local government.

Deinstitutionalization Nationwide

For decades throughout the country, people with developmental disabilities were segregated from the community in massive state-run warehouses, where they often suffered physical and mental abuse, total neglect, and isolation from friends, family, and society in general. Institutions did nothing to help people with disabilities – indeed, most regressed in basic life skills in confinement. Instead, the system indulged an ugly and irrational prejudice against people with disabilities – a belief, in the words of the Supreme Court, that people with developmental disabilities are “incapable or unworthy of participating in community life.”

Pennhurst & PA Deinstitutionalization

At the Pennhurst State School and Hospital and other institutions in Pennsylvania, residents were abused and neglected, and they were deprived of almost all social, educational and employment opportunities.

Accessible Public Transit

Public transportation is an essential public service, especially for low-income and urban communities who often must travel long distances to school, work, the supermarket, and other places around the city but who are unable to afford a car.

Racial Impact of Federal Urban Development

In the 1960s, a development project funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was planned for East Popular, then a racially and economically diverse neighborhood of Philadelphia.