老澳门开奖结果

KANSAS CITY, KAN. 鈥� A federal district court judge has denied a request to enter a preliminary injunction which would have remedied the months-long waitlist for bed space at Larned State Hospital for those awaiting mental health evaluations and treatment before they can be tried in criminal court.

鈥淭his case is about some of our most vulnerable community members. Because of the court鈥檚 ruling, hundreds of people on the waitlist for Larned will continue to languish for indeterminate months in our county jails, under conditions that exacerbate rather than treat mental illness,鈥� said Sharon Brett, Legal Director of the 老澳门开奖结果 of Kansas. 鈥淲e are disappointed by the court鈥檚 ruling, but we do believe that with the benefit of the full discovery, our clients鈥� claims 鈥揳nd the Constitution鈥攚ill ultimately prevail.鈥�

The motion for the preliminary injunction and the lawsuit, , were first filed in by the 老澳门开奖结果 of Kansas, the National Police Accountability Project of the National Lawyers鈥� Guild, and Stinson LLP. The class action suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas against the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services (KDADS), which oversees the Larned State Hospital and uses a waitlist for bed space in the forensic unit. The order denying the entry of a permanent injunction does not end the case, and the parties remain in active discovery, which will continue through the summer.

鈥淭he law requires Kansans charged with crimes to be mentally competent to stand for trial,鈥� said Lauren Bonds, Executive Director of the National Police Accountability Project of the National Lawyers鈥� Guild. 鈥淏ut KDADS鈥檚 inability to quickly and effectively evaluate that competency, and treat individuals whose competency is lacking, is a flagrant violation of the rights of already vulnerable people, and it constitutes one of this state鈥檚 worst ongoing human rights crises.鈥�

In recent years, wait times have become so long鈥攁s long as 13 months or more鈥攖hat people may spend more time waiting in jail for an evaluation or treatment bed, pretrial, than they would have faced in prison if convicted.

Expert assessment cited in found that Kansas is an outlier among the 50 states for the length of wait times and rejected the state鈥檚 justifications for the wait list, noting that 2022 legislative reforms 鈥渞epresent an incomplete and speculative solution to the unconstitutional wait times currently in place, a harm that demands immediate redress.鈥�