The Supreme Court decision in Olmstead v. Lois Curtis and Elaine Wilson was a pivotal point in disability law. The decision said that unnecessary institutionalization based on disability was discrimination. The case was based on another case, known as Helen L., that was argued by Steve Gold. ADAPT had argued for years that if states had money for services for a person in a nursing home, why couldn't these funds be used to serve the person in the community instead? Helen L was based on this principle and when it was won in lower courts and turned down by the Supreme Court, the ideas behind it were promoted nationally and other attorneys in other states started filing similar suits. When Olmstead made it up to the Supreme Court, states, organized by Florida, started filing briefs against the disability position. ADAPT began a campaign to counter this effort and, joined by activists from all the states, we were able to bring on and even get states to reverse themselves so that in the end a majority of states supported the disability position, and ultimately the Supreme Court agreed. In addition to this campaign, in May of 1999 ADAPT organized the Don't Tread on the ADA Rally, one of the largest disability rallies ever, to support the effort to free our people from unnecessary institutionalization. When the Supreme Court finally released their decision, ADAPT and other disability activists camped out on the steps of the Supreme Court to be among the first to hear in person the court's decision.