Keker, Van Nest & Peters received the Pro Bono Award at the Disability Rights Legal Center’s (DRLC) 49th Annual FDR Dinner on Saturday, October 5. The recognition highlights the firm’s advocacy on behalf of people with mobility disabilities held in Shasta County jail.
In 2016, DRLC recruited a Keker team to assist in filing a lawsuit against Shasta County and its medical services contractor. The team, which included Steve Ragland, Franco Muzzio, and Sydnee Robinson, secured a landmark settlement that required the jail to renovate facilities to provide ADA-compliant showers and housing accommodations. It also mandated that inmates who needed assistive devices be provided with canes, walkers and wheelchairs. Pursuant to the court-entered settlement, the County also was compelled to provide equal access educational and work opportunities. The settlement has served as a model for relief, driving similar improvements in other counties for incarcerated individuals with disabilities.
“We are proud of what we achieved with DRLC,” Ragland said. “This case was not just a huge win for anyone who currently is, or in the future will be, incarcerated in Shasta County, but it serves as a model for relief in other counties.”