On March 2024, School Justice Project, Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, and the law firm of Nixon Peabody LLP, filed a class action complaint in the District Court for the District of Columbia, Barnes v. District of Columbiaet. al., alleging that the District of Columbia, namely District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) and its oversight education agency, Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), and the federal Bureau of Prisons, failed to provide required special education and instruction to IDEA-eligible, DC Code offenders sentenced to a term of incarceration in the BOP.  

In March of 2025, the U.S. Federal District Court for D.C. certified the class, representing a huge step forward on behalf of young people who are denied their rights under the IDEA. In the Court’s decision to allow the lawsuit to proceed, the Court wrote, “…the thrust of defendants’ arguments indicates a complete abdication of the responsibility that each one owes to the plaintiffs.” The Court also agreed that “incarceration should not have ended forever” the students’ “opportunity to achieve a high school degree.” The Court also denied both the BOP and DC's motions to dismiss as well. In dismissing BOP's motion to dismiss, the Court found that there is a property interest in FAPE and that BOP is denying our clients their property right without due process, in violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. 

Without access to specialized instruction, students with disabilities will not be able to successfully reenter into their communities upon their release from a federal facility. This is a key priority for SJP and we are dedicated to ensuring that this practice changes and that students receive compensatory education for the time and services they have lost due to this unlawful practice.