INTRODUCTION This paper addresses the fourth phase of the Wyatt litigation and the trial which took place in Alabama in 1995. The trial lasted more than thirty- five days over an eight- to ten-week period. This fourth phase of the litigation sought to resolve critical issues within the DMH/MR of Mental Health and Mental Retardation (DMH/MR). This article will take a brief look at the early history of the mental health system in Alabama, along with the beginnings of the Wyatt litigation, which dated from 1970. The DMH/MR still faced challenges in 1995 because the agendas of a number of governors and commissioners over the 25 intervening years did not necessarily mesh with the objective at the time of the 1995 trial.
