Lois Curtis, who won a landmark civil rights case for people with disabilities, died

Lois Curtis was the plaintiff in a civil rights case that gave people with disabilities and older people the right to live outside of institutions and in their own homes. Curtis died Thursday of cancer. (John Poole/NPR)

Attorney Sue Jamieson was touring a grim state hospital in Georgia three decades ago when she was introduced to a young woman, Lois Curtis, who'd spent much of her teen years and early 20's in state institutions.

"As we always say, 'What is it you think we could do for you? I work at Legal Aid. And I'm a lawyer,'" Jamieson recalled for an oral history for her employer, the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. "And she'd say: 'Get me out of here. Would you please get me out of here? When am I getting out of here?'"