Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Ohio mentally ill inmates

In a class action lawsuit filed earlier this year by indigent Ohio residents with psychiatric disabilities soon to, or recently having been, released from prison in Ohio, the Department of Corrections, last Monday filed a motion to dismiss the case.

"For inmates with psychiatric disabilities," the inmates' complaint had professed, "an abrupt and unprepared reentry into a community or entry into some form of post-release supervision represents an enormous barrier to a successful transition. When inmates with psychiatric disabilities are released into communities without required accommodations, they are often unable to meet requirements that may condition their release or make use of the referrals, counseling, and services available in the communities they inhabit, if those services are available. In many communities into which inmates with psychiatric disorders are released, needed services are minimal and inadequate or non-existent. As a result, they experience predictable and preventable exacerbations of their symptoms and they also face arrest for even non-criminal behavior that may constitute a technical violation of the conditions of their release."

A USAToday snippet yesterday said attorneys for the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction maintain the inmates don't have standing to bring the lawsuit because all have already been released from prison, and that they haven't shown how the state can be blamed for their homelessness or lack of jobs after being released.

The case was brought by the Ohio Justice & Policy Center, a local activist group "working for productive, statewide reform of the criminal justice system."

No comments: