Media ContactLisa Ramirez, Communications Director, lramirez@mylegalaid.org
Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid’s 44th annual Law Day Dinner showcases justice work through attorneys of our housing, consumer and disability law units and through the lens of clients who were facing eviction, wage garnishment and loss of credits for personal care assistance. Each, represented by Legal Aid, overcame these legal challenges. They remain housed, recouped wages and re-established entitlement to PCA credits.
Legal Aid client Judah and his mother Terress, along with Attorney Jessica Heiser of Legal Aid’s Minnesota Disability Law Center, talked to KSTP. They filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights but have yet to get a response.
Out of high school, Josie LaBonne made the career decision to train dogs to be service animals. But had no idea that the first and only dog she trained would be for herself or that together, she and Jack-Jack would need the help of Legal Aid. With Attorney Sonja Peterson of our Disability Law Center, La Bonne’s case reached a settlement agreement.
Lyn was 18 years-old when she suffered a spinal cord injury. Her optimism has sustained her through career, child-rearing and in her latest legal battle, which she hopes will help others.
In this staff profile piece, Attorney Steve Schmidt reflects on five memorable cases. Each focused on disability rights for clients of Legal Aid’s Minnesota Disability Law Center. All had far-reaching effects in achieving justice for countless others in areas of legislation, prisoner rights, compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and increasing access to time with personal care assistants.
Sonja Peterson, attorney with Legal Aid’s Minnesota Disability Law Center and client Chou Yang, whose first language is American Sign Language, talk to Minnesota Public Radio about MDLC’s recent settlement agreement with the Minnesota Department of Corrections.
The Minnesota Department of Education agreed, our client, a senior in high school, should not have been expelled. But when MDE ordered the school to reinstate him, they refused. Legal Aid then argued in front of the Court of Appeals that the school’s case should be dismissed. Ultimately, it was. By then, however, our client’s chance to graduate with his class had come and gone. Today, two grad seasons later, our client William and his family share how far he’s come.
As a former social services worker, Trina knew her rights, yet she was denied the benefit of a live-in PCA. When that happened, she told them she would get an attorney to represent her. That’s when Legal Aid stepped in.
“I was getting medical treatment for a bad leg, but I was in there (a nursing home) a long time. What they were doing for me wasn’t different than what could be done at home. I’d rather be at home…but they wouldn’t let me go.”
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