The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law (the Center), founded as the Mental Health Law Project by a group of attorneys and mental health professionals, has been a major advocacy force promoting the civil rights of persons with mental disabilities since the 1972 New York Willowbrook litigation.Named for D. C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge David L. Bazelon, whose opinions first articulated the principles that the mentally disabled have a right to treatment in the least restrictive alternative setting, the Center has actively pursued greater rights for the mentally disabled in housing, education, and federal entitlements such as Medicaid, as well as in treatment-related issues.