TPM and CLASI Secure a Win on Standing for Protection and Advocacy Organizations, Preliminary Injunction Denied, and the Case Proceeds

In 2024, Terris, Pravlik & Millian, LLP (TPM) and Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. (CLASI), Delaware’s Protection and Advocacy (P&A) system, filed a federal lawsuit challenging the long-standing and systemic failures of the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE), and its Adult and Prison Education Resources Workgroup (APER), to provide special education services to incarcerated students with disabilities in violation of federal and Delaware law. We sought a preliminary injunction ordering provision of the required services, and Defendants moved to dismiss.

On June 23, 2025, the Court denied both motions. That decision will be a useful resource for P&As asserting associational standing to defend the rights of those with disabilities:

  • The Court found that CLASI satisfied the requirements for associational standing under Hunt v. Wash. State Apple Advert. Comm’n, 432 U.S. 333, 343 (1977).

  • The Court explained that the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness Act (the PAIMI Act) provides a statutory basis for P&As to bring litigation addressing systemic issues.

  • The Court concluded that the third Hunt requirement—that the lawsuit’s claims not require the participation of individual members—was abrogated by PAIMI.

  • The Court further explained that, even if the Hunt requirement was not abrogated, “CLASI satisfies the requirement because it seeks systemic declaratory and injunctive relief, as opposed to individualized relief requiring the participation of individual students,” and, “[t]o the extent that compliance with the requested relief would require monitoring of individualized cases, ‘some limited participation by the individual members of the organization does not bar associational or representational standing under this third element.’”

  • The Court did not require individual exhaustion by constituents of CLASI under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) due to the systemic nature of the violations.

The court’s analysis marks a critical strengthening of the foundations of P&A standing—an important step at a time when P&As nationally are facing significant challenges.

For more information, please contact Todd Gluckman at tgluckman@tpmlaw.com or 202-204-8482.

Michael Huang