Judge Rotenberg Educational Center, Inc. v. Commissioner of the Department of Developmental Services

Summary

The court affirmed the denial of the defendants’ motion to terminate a longstanding consent decree governing regulation of JRC and its use of aversive treatments. Applying deferential review, the court held that the Probate Court did not abuse its discretion in finding that the department had not shown sufficient changed circumstances, because the record supported findings of bad-faith regulation and no professional consensus that the treatments fell outside the standard of care. The court also held that the decree did not violate separation-of-powers principles and that the department could not use unilateral regulations to circumvent it.