For the third time in less than four years, the 老澳门开奖结果 of Pennsylvania and co-counsel from Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer asked a federal judge last week to order Pennsylvania鈥檚 Department of Human Services to reduce the time that people with severe psychiatric disabilities spend waiting in jail for treatment beds. These people鈥檚 mental disabilities are so significant that under the Constitution they can be neither prosecuted nor punished, which means they cannot be kept in a prison or jail.
How disabled are our clients?
Most are floridly psychotic. This means that they see people who are not in the room, hear people who are not talking, and feel things 鈥� like armies of spiders crawling on them 鈥� that are not there. Jail conditions only exacerbate these symptoms and make them deteriorate further. They spread feces on themselves and eat it. Some become violent.
These people are also very alone. Many of our clients鈥� families have abandoned them 鈥� not because they are bad people necessarily, but because the societal and medical supports to help both their loved one and themselves are not there. And the clients鈥� illness prevents them from advocating for themselves. These people are helpless, often without anyone even trying to help them.
Our clients also share in common criminal charges for a range of transgressions, from stealing peppermint candies from a convenience store 鈥� I kid you not; check out our 鈥� to murder. But because they are too sick to understand the charges or assist in defending against them, the Constitution prohibits them from being prosecuted or imprisoned.
If the criminal court determines that mental health treatment will likely make them competent within a reasonable time period, however, the court can order them into 鈥渃ompetency restoration treatment.鈥� This treatment need not involve expensive hospital beds; for some people, the treatment can be provided in the community.
In October 2015, we DHS over what appeared to be the longest wait times for incompetent criminal defendants in the country. Two federal courts had ruled that the Constitution requires states to transfer incompetent patients ordered to treatment within seven days. In Pennsylvania, one of the two DHS hospitals accepting such patients was so full that people were waiting in county jails for over a year, and in some cases more than two years.
These lengthy waits in jail are not only plainly unconstitutional: They are inhumane. People with severe psychiatric disabilities, who legally cannot be punished, are held in cages 鈥� that鈥檚 what a prison cell is, folks 鈥� usually with little or no mental health services. Studies reveal that individuals with major mental illnesses, as a group, face a substantial likelihood of getting seriously injured in prison. Confining severely mentally ill patients in close quarters with, and without adequate protection from, large numbers of antisocial persons with excess time and few productive activities results in bullying and predation.
Moreover, their mental illness causes them to act in ways prisons don鈥檛 condone, often leading to their placement in solitary confinement. Not only does the patient remain untreated, but the isolation causes the patient to decompensate much faster, exacerbating the mental health condition. These experiences 鈥� the trauma of physical and sexual victimization and conditions of solitary confinement, either alone or in combination 鈥� often aggravate inmates鈥� psychiatric symptoms and even create new mental disorders.
Our first injunction in the case resulted in a January 2016 settlement requiring DHS to study the problem to identify a solution as well as to add treatment beds. We suggested that many of the patients could be treated in community settings, which would be better for them and much cheaper for the agency. When those changes did not reduce wait times, we filed for a second injunction in summer 2017. The second settlement eventually reduced wait times to about 4-5 months, but that was still far too long, legally and medically.
Our third injunction request last week is straightforward: We ask the court to order DHS to meet the seven-day transfer period for all patients by Sept. 1. The agency will need to figure out how to do so. Our clients cannot continue to pay the heavy price of DHS鈥檚 failure to fix this problem.
If a society is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens, Pennsylvania is not doing very well.
Learn More 老澳门开奖结果 the Issues on This Page
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CaliforniaDec 2024
Disability Rights
Powers v. McDonoughPowers v. McDonough
Every night, thousands of veterans sleep without shelter on the streets of Los Angeles. Meanwhile, the Department of Veterans Affairs owns hundreds of acres of land in prime West Los Angeles鈥攍and directly adjacent to a VA medical facility that was once earmarked to house veterans, but today is instead home to private school sports fields and an oil well. In November 2022, a group of unhoused veterans and a non-profit organization filed suit alleging that the Department of Veterans Affairs (鈥淰A鈥�) failed to provide adequate housing and health care to veterans with severe disabilities in Los Angeles. These failures have significantly undermined veterans鈥� abilities to access the benefits they are entitled to by law, leaving many stranded on the streets after serving our country. The veterans sued the VA under the Rehabilitation Act, a federal statute that prohibits federal agencies from discriminating against people with disabilities. As a remedy, the plaintiffs seek the construction of significant units of permanent supportive housing on the The VA argued that a provision of the Veterans鈥� Judicial Review Act (鈥淰JRA鈥�)鈥� a federal statute that prohibits federal district courts from second-guessing VA鈥檚 individualized benefits determinations鈥攂ars federal district courts from hearing the veterans鈥� Rehabilitation Act claims. Should the court accept this position, it would deprive veterans of a meaningful opportunity to have their rights under the Rehabilitation Act and other generally applicable nondiscrimination statutes enforced. -
News & CommentaryDec 2024
Criminal Law Reform
Disability Rights
Incarceration Should Not be a Death Sentence for Individuals Who Use OpioidsIncarceration Should Not be a Death Sentence for Individuals Who Use Opioids
New litigation centered on increasing access to substance-use disorder treatment in jails and prisons is helping to reduce mortality rates among incarcerated individuals. -
Press ReleaseSep 2024
Disability Rights
Criminal Law Reform
Lawsuit Challenging Armed Police Response to Mental Health Emergencies in Washington, D.C. to ProceedLawsuit Challenging Armed Police Response to Mental Health Emergencies in Washington, D.C. to Proceed
WASHINGTON 鈥� A federal judge in Washington, D.C. today rejected the District of Columbia鈥檚 motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the 老澳门开奖结果, the 老澳门开奖结果 of the District of Columbia, and the law firm Sheppard Mullin. The lawsuit contends that the District鈥檚 emergency response system discriminates against people with mental health disabilities by deploying armed police officers to address the vast majority of mental health crises while sending trained medical professionals to most other health emergencies. 鈥淭his ruling moves us one step closer to bringing essential, life-saving emergency mental health care to D.C. communities. Qualified providers are best equipped to handle mental health emergencies with skills and compassion; police with a gun only serve to escalate, handcuff, and arrest,鈥� said Ashika Verriest, senior staff attorney with the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Criminal Law Reform Project. 鈥淔ar too many people are harmed at the hands of police during a mental health crisis, or simply receive ineffective care. This must end.鈥� The plaintiff in the case is Bread for the City, a D.C.-based nonprofit supporting underserved communities. The lawsuit contends that the District鈥檚 unequal response to mental health crises violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act. The ruling will move the case forward, allowing the 老澳门开奖结果 to show in court that a fully functioning mental health crisis response system that sends a medical, rather than a law enforcement, response to most mental health crises is legally required. 鈥淩elying on mental health professionals, not armed police, to serve people experiencing mental health crises is not just logical, it鈥檚 required under the law. Today鈥檚 decision made clear that communities can鈥檛 single out mental health emergencies for worse services than other health emergencies,鈥� said Michael Perloff, staff attorney with the 老澳门开奖结果 of the District of Columbia. The ruling comes on the heels of a recommendation made in a similar case filed against Washington County, Oregon by the 老澳门开奖结果, the 老澳门开奖结果 of Oregon, Disability Rights Oregon, and Sheppard Mullin. On August 30, 2024, a federal magistrate judge recognized that sending police, rather than health providers to a mental health crisis, may be discrimination against people with mental health disabilities in violation of federal law. The magistrate judge recommended that the case proceed. More details about the case are accessible here: /cases/bread-for-the-city-v-district-of-columbia -
Press ReleaseSep 2024
Criminal Law Reform
+2 Issues
Judge Orders Supervision System in Washington, D.C. to Accommodate People with DisabilitiesJudge Orders Supervision System in Washington, D.C. to Accommodate People with Disabilities
WASHINGTON 鈥� A federal court granted a preliminary injunction yesterday in a case filed on behalf of people with disabilities on parole and supervised release in Washington, D.C., ordering immediate action to address discriminatory conditions faced by the two named plaintiffs. The court also denied the government鈥檚 motion to dismiss, allowing the case to proceed. The case, brought by the 老澳门开奖结果, 老澳门开奖结果 of D.C., Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, and Latham & Watkins LLP, challenges the federal government鈥檚 post-conviction supervision system in Washington, D.C. for systematically ignoring the needs of people with disabilities, thereby setting them up for failure on supervision and putting them at constant risk of sanctions, including incarceration. As the court held in its decision, such accommodations are likely required under federal disability law, specifically the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The preliminary injunction requires that the United States Parole Commission and the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA), the two federal agencies responsible for supervision in D.C., assess what reasonable accommodations the two named plaintiffs require to have an equal opportunity to succeed on supervision, and provide all such required accommodations. 鈥淎bsent an injunction,鈥� the court鈥檚 decision reads, 鈥渢he Parolees will be forced to participate in the Government鈥檚 supervision programs on an unequal footing just because of their disabilities.鈥� People on supervision in D.C. are required to comply with myriad and onerous rules. For people with disabilities, navigating these complex conditions is even more challenging. For example, Plaintiff Mr. Mathis 鈥� a 70-year-old military veteran with congestive heart failure that limits his ability to walk 鈥� struggles to travel throughout the city to attend frequent supervision meetings that often conflict with necessary medical procedures and hospitalizations. His supervision officer required him to wear an ankle monitor even after his doctor warned the monitor would jeopardize his health due to his heart condition. Plaintiff Mr. Davis, who lives with chronic pain stemming from third-degree burns as well as mental health conditions, also faces disability-related barriers getting to required meetings. Yet failing to meet any of these conditions, even something as simple as missing an appointment, can land a person back in jail or prison, even when no new criminal conduct is alleged. The court agreed that 鈥渁bsent immediate relief, the Parolees will face irreparable harm; namely, obstacles to success on supervision solely because of their disabilities, which expose them to downstream harms like revocation and reincarceration.鈥� The court did not decide whether it will ultimately certify a class that could yield relief for all people on supervision in D.C. who need accommodations. Instead, the court directed the parties to agree on a schedule for further proceedings on that issue. 鈥淭he undue hardships faced by people with disabilities on federal criminal supervision in the District of Columbia have gone unaddressed for too long,鈥� said Scott Michelman, legal director, 老澳门开奖结果 of the District of Columbia. 鈥淭his decision is a victory for equal treatment and common sense.鈥� 鈥淭he Court鈥檚 opinion emphatically rejects the federal government's 鈥榙o-nothing鈥� policy for people with disabilities on supervision in Washington, D.C., who have been forced to navigate onerous requirements without accommodations for decades,鈥� said Allison Frankel, staff attorney with the 老澳门开奖结果 Criminal Law Reform Project. 鈥淭his ruling ensures that our named Plaintiffs will have the accommodations they need to have a fair shot at completing parole and remaining in their communities.鈥� 鈥淲e are thrilled the Court recognized that the Parole Commission and CSOSA must accommodate our clients鈥� disabilities so that they have an equal opportunity to succeed on supervision,鈥� said Zo茅 Friedland, staff attorney with the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. 鈥淲e will keep fighting to make this relief permanent and systemic so that all people on supervision have an equal chance to succeed.鈥� The decision on the preliminary injunction can be found here: /cases/mathis-v-united-states-parole-commission?document=Preliminary-Injunction-Opinion The complaint can be found here: /documents/w-mathis-v-united-states-parole-commission-complaint