Mississippi Department of Mental Health Director Diana Mikula exits the federal courthouse in Jackson, Miss., Monday, July 1, 2019, after closing arguments were presented on whether Mississippi's mental health system breaks the law by unnecessarily confining people. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

The U.S. Justice Department has decided that a federal judge should take up a lawsuit against the state of Mississippi alleging the state is not providing sufficient community-based alternatives to mental hospitals. This legal case turns on the landmark 1999 Olmstead Supreme Court decision, which held that unnecessary confinement in institutions violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.