Disability Rights Legal Center

The Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, public-interest advocacy organization that champions the rights of people with disabilities and invests in otherwise neglected communities by creating access for people with disabilities.

GALA

DRLC’s annual gala, the FDR Dinner, recognizes individuals and organizations across sectors who exemplify DRLC’s core values of justice and fairness and who protect and expand the rights and representation of people with disabilities.

We invite our community to join us on October 5th for the 49th FDR Dinner, as we celebrate the victories we’ve shared with our community for nearly half a century.

Save the Date! Disability Rights Legal center presents: 49th Annual FDR Dinner. Date: October 5, 2024. Time: 6:30 PM. Location: Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N Sepulveda Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. (Design is an old Hollywood-style event ticket with black background, gold and white font, with image of a film roll in foreground with icons including a film camera, champagne flutes clinking, two dancers [one using a wheelchair], and a Hollywood star. Two dancers dance together on top of the film roll, one in a dress with a flowing skirt.)

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HISTORY

Founded in 1975, DRLC houses the nation’s oldest disability rights program. With a strong commitment to intersectionality, DRLC’s programs confront attitudinal and programmatic barriers that maintain discriminatory structures, prevent equal access, and prevent people with disabilities from full inclusion in society.

PROGRAMS

Civil Rights Litigation Program: DRLC is proud to house the nation’s oldest disability rights program. The Civil Rights Litigation Program invests in otherwise neglected communities by creating access. These cases aim to create lasting changes that benefit the entire community, reshape attitudes and perceptions, and influence future policies, procedures, and structures to effect change across the country. (Transparent circle behind program title, off-white text on vertical, rectangular black background.)

Cancer Legal Resource Center: DRLC’s Cancer Legal Resource Center addresses legal issues faced by people with cancer, whose needs are unique in the disability community. Through its national telephone assistance line, outreach programs, and community activities, the Cancer Legal Resource Center (CLRC) has reached more than half a million cancer-affected individuals since its creation in 1997. (Transparent circle behind program title, off-white text centered on vertical, rectangular black background.)

CORE Program: The Community Outreach, Resources, & Education (CORE) Program serves as DRLC’s front line, ensuring two-way communication between our teams and community. CORE seeks to map existing resources and to connect community-based organizations to work synergistically alongside established and emerging leaders and remain responsive and attuned to the community. (Design: Transparent circle behind program title, off-white text centered on vertical, rectangular black background.)

NEWS

CLRC Advisory Committee member Deborah Lefkowitz awarded prestigious fellowship

Cancer Legal Resource Center (CLRC) Advisory Committee member Deborah Lefkowitz, PhD, has just been awarded a 2024-25 Extramural Mentored Fellowship on Poverty, Retirement, and Disability Research from the University of Wisconsin’s Retirement and Disability Research Center and Institute for Research on Poverty, supported by the Social Security Administration (SSA). This fellowship enables her to embark […]

IN FOCUS: a photo exhibit fundraiser. Join us for an unforgettable evening celebrating art through photography. November 2, 2024, 6:00 p.m. L-34, 5622 North Figueroa Street, Los Angeles. Presented by Disability rights Legal Center and Disability Community Resource Center. (White and navy text on solid color blocked background featuring navy, gray, and white)

Save the date for IN FOCUS: a photo exhibit fundraiser

Friends of DRLC and DCRC are invited to attend IN FOCUS, a photo exhibit fundraiser on November 16, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. EVENT DETAILS The event will highlight several professional photographers, as well as rising talent. Photographers include Geoff Moore, Andrew Casey, Paul Gibert, Jeffrey Boxer, George Hamilton, and Justin Reissman. This list of exceptional photographers continues […]

Electronic voting is the best path for accessible voting

“Voting is the heart of our democracy and a quintessential public activity that must be accessible to people with disabilities under Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act,” write DRLC Executive Director Sylvia Torres-Guillén and DRLC Senior Staff Attorney Corrigan L. Lewis in the Daily Journal. “There is nothing preventing California from doing the right thing.”