Crucial Case for Mentally Disabled Supreme Court Could Radically Reshape How States Care for the Disabled,

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The United States may be at the brink of an important turning point in the way the nation cares for those with mental disabilities. This week, the US Supreme Court takes up a case that could force state governments to stop using state mental hospitals as what critics say are little more than human warehouses for the mentally retarded.

Advocates for the disabled say the case may be the most important in a century in helping to integrate those with mental disabilities into American society. And it could go a long way in finally closing the door on the nation's well-documented history of ill-treatment of those diagnosed with mental retardation or mental illness. "It's …