On September 22, 1986, Judge Myron Thompson issued a consent decree in the Wyatt v. Stickney litigation. The settlement occurred 14 years after Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr. rendered his landmark decision in this case. The consent decree included termination of the court's active supervision of the state's mental health system, termination of the receivership, and termination of the court monitor's powers. The state agreed to adhere to Wyatt standards, maintain Title XIX accreditation, continue deinstitutionalization efforts, and develop an internal advocacy and quality assurance program. Mechanisms are also to be put in place to apprise the plaintiffs' attorneys of progress in these efforts.
Alabama Deinstitutionalization