In response to the state of Oregon’s refusal to admit criminal defendants in jail to the state psychiatric hospital for mental health treatment within seven days after they are determined incapable of aiding in their defense, Disability Rights Oregon petitioned a judge on Tuesday to put the state in contempt of a court order.
Rights of People with Disabilities In 2002, Oregon filed its first lawsuit against the state, claiming that the Oregon State Hospital had violated defendants’ rights to due process and a speedy trial by failing to promptly accept individuals in need of treatment.
At that time, U.S. District Judge Owen M. Panner ordered that if a court determines that a defendant’s mental illness precludes them from participating in their defense, the hospital must admit them within seven days.A large number of them had been waiting in jail without receiving any care.
The average wait time for a detained criminal defendant to be admitted to the state hospital for mental health treatment was 26 days, a state attorney told a federal judge in November. Carla Scott, an Oregon Department of Justice lawyer who represented Oregon State Hospital and the Oregon Health Authority at that hearing, was similarly unable to inform the judge of the hospital’s anticipated time of compliance with the long-standing order.
Rights of People with Disabilities Oregon claimed that its move was prompted by the state’s purported lack of urgency in resolving its issue.
The State of Oregon has demonstrated little concern for the welfare of those with mental illness who are incarcerated, even in spite of a federal court ruling that dates back 22 years. Jake Cornett, the advocacy group’s executive director and chief executive officer, stated in a statement that a person going through a continuous mental crisis should never be in jail. We cannot watch helplessly as Oregon ignores the legal system; there must be repercussions.
In order to force the state to abide by the seven-day court ruling, the application asks for financial penalties against it.
Oregon State facility spokesman Amber Shoebridge stated on Tuesday that the facility does not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.
According to the group’s motion, at least two jail inmates who were unable to assist with their defense during the previous few years of noncompliance passed away while awaiting a hospital bed due to difficulties from their mental conditions and a corresponding inability to eat or drink.
According to the motion, hundreds of additional inmates have been held in detention for weeks or months, frequently without treatment and in isolation, while their illnesses deteriorated. Due to the defendants’ noncompliance, there have been significant human costs.
The two deaths in jail custody were identified by court records:
After being committed to the state psychiatric institution on April 8, 2022, 22-year-old Bryce Bybee passed away in Washington County Jail on April 17, 2022. According to Emily Cooper, legal director of Disability Rights Oregon, he was severely mentally ill in the weeks before his death, frequently unresponsive, non-communicative for days, and frequently not eating or drinking. He was diagnosed with hypokalemia, a metabolic disorder linked to malnutrition and dehydration, and dehydration when he was incarcerated, she said. In the latter days of his life, he developed bed sores as a result of his constant immobility in his cell. Cooper noted in her court petition that the medical examiner concluded Bybee’s death was caused by self-neglect related to schizoaffective disorder complications.
According to Cooper, Skye Baskin, 27, passed away on April 18, 2024, while being transferred from the Douglas County Jail to the Oregon State Hospital. Authorities did not formally proclaim him dead until he was inside the state hospital. He spent six weeks in an isolation cell at the Douglas County Jail after being deemed incompetent to appear in court on March 20, 2024. Cooper reported that he had been in severe catatonia, not moving or reacting to others, and seemed to be neither eating nor drinking for most of his time in the prison. According to Cooper, the medical examiner determined that his cause of death was a heart arrhythmia linked to metabolic derangement, which is essentially starvation and dehydration brought on by neglecting to take care of his mental health and the physical consequences of his incapacity to feed himself or drink fluids.
State attorneys told a judge late last year that the Oregon Health Authority is requesting $55 million for the state’s mental health system in the upcoming legislative session. This money will be used to add 642 more beds for patients leaving the state hospital and to expand intensive mental health residential treatment and support services throughout the state, including residential psychiatric and substance abuse treatment for youths and families.
Rights of People with Disabilities According to Oregon, the fundamental issue is that the state has not developed a strong community behavioral health system to offer services before a person’s mental health deteriorates to the point where they are arrested and enter the criminal justice system, nor has it provided adequate funding for a range of competency restoration services to meet the demand.
Days before all parties to the continuing lawsuit are scheduled to meet for a status hearing before U.S. District Judge Adrienne Nelson on Friday, the contempt motion was filed in federal court in Portland.
— Maxine Bernstein writes about criminal justice and federal courts. You can contact her via [email protected], 503-221-8212, X@maxoregonian, or LinkedIn.
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