Finally tonight on the final weekend of Disability Pride Month,

Ali Roggan tells us about an artist whose lawsuit

over the conditions of her confinement in state institutions 25 years ago

ended up at the Supreme Court and established the rights of

disabled Americans. It's tonight's installment in our series, Hidden Histories.

Lois Curtis's confinement led to liberation for herself and all Americans with disabilities.

Born in 1967, Curtis grew up with cognitive and developmental disabilities.

Her family found it hard to care for her, and by the cognitive and developmental disabilities.

Her family found it hard to care for her, and by the age of 11, she was committed to a hospital,

subject to sedation and isolation.

But she believed she'd do better in a group home and started calling the Atlanta Legal Aid Society for assistance.

They helped her file a lawsuit at age 27 against the state of Georgia and its Commissioner of Human Resources, Tommy Olmstead.

She claimed that by keeping her institutionalized, the state was discriminating against her,

illegal under the newly passed Americans with Disabilities Act.

The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, where the justices ruled 6-3 in her favor.

The landmark Olmstead decision found that segregation of people with disabilities was a violation of the law.

It paved the way for more equitable treatment not just in psychiatric hospitals, but all institutions

receiving state and federal funding.

Later in life, Curtis turned to art.

There'll be a lap.

Wow.

A pink wrap. She once said, I came along when my art came along.

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