Willowbrook State School shuttered in 1987, but the legacy of the troubled institution lives on today in the fight for funding to support people with disabilities, panelists said at an event hosted by the New York Appellate Division, First Department.

Situated on Staten Island, Willowbrook purported to offer medical and rehabilitative care for some 6,000 children and adults with intellectual disabilities. By the late 1960s, it was plagued by overcrowding, facing public outcry over neglect and lack of care for its residents.

Advocates and family members of former Willowbrook residents commemorated the 50th anniversary of the landmark civil rights case that shut down the neglected facility, speaking at an Oct. 27 continuing legal education panel at the historic First Department courthouse

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