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Federal judge rules against ADOC in mental health suit

Montgomery Advertiser
Jun 27, 2017

June 27--U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson has ruled against the Alabama Department of Corrections in class action lawsuit that was brought on behalf of all disabled inmates.

Filed in 2014 by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program split into multiple phases. Phase one one claimed physically disabled inmates were discriminated against on the basis that ADOC failed to accommodate those disabilities.

In June, defendants ADOC, ADOC Commissioner Jefferson Dunn, and Ruth Naglich, ADOC associate commissioner of health services, reached an agreement with the plaintiffs on those claims.

Phase 2A, the phase that Thompson has ruled on focused solely on ADOC's mentally ill inmates, which the plaintiffs' attorneys allege have been egregiously neglected.

Phase 2B will revolve around medical and dental care claims.

Related: Class action suit on behalf of all Alabama disabled inmates begins

Thompson agreed with allegations set forth in the 2A phase of the case, writing in his 302-page opinion, "Simply put, ADOC's mental-health care is horrendously inadequate."

Trial for this phase began in December and lasted nearly two months.

The ruling means that the federal judiciary has found the ADOC liable of violating inmates' eighth amendment rights to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.

Specifically, his ruling found that ADOC:

* Failed to identify prisoners with serious mental-health needs and to classify their needs properly

* Failed to provide individualized treatment plans to prisoners with serious mental-health needs

* Failed to provide psychotherapy by qualified and properly supervised mental-health staff and with adequate frequency and sound confidentiality

* Provided insufficient out-of-cell time and treatment to those who need residential treatment; and failed to provide hospital-level care to those who need it

* Failed to identify suicide risks adequately and proved inadequate treatment and monitoring to those who are suicidal, engaging in self-harm, or otherwise undergoing a mental-health crisis

* Imposed disciplinary sanctions on mentally ill prisoners for symptoms of their mental illness, and imposed disciplinary sanctions without regard for the impact of sanctions on prisoners' mental health

* Placed seriously mentally ill prisoners in segregation without extenuating circumstances and for prolonged periods of time

* Placed prisoners with serious mental-health needs in segregation without adequate consideration of the impact of segregation on mental health; and provided inadequate treatment and monitoring in segregation.

The complaint illustrated examples of this, citing an instance where a prisoner with a history of self-harm was provided razor blades.

"After one prisoner who had repeatedly requested mental health care cut himself with one of the razors, a correctional officer said to him, 'If you die, you die,'" the complaint reads.

Thompson has ordered that attorneys for the defendants and plaintiff meet to discuss a remedy.

More: Partial settlement reached prison suit

"The court emphasizes that given the severity and urgency of the need for mental-health care explained in this opinion, the proposed relief must be both immediate and long term. No partial final judgment shall issue at this time as to the claim resolved in this entry," the opinion reads.

ADOC Commissioner Dunn wrote in a statement, "This order will require a broader conversation with our state leadership about how we can responsibly address the challenges facing the department.

"While portions of the trial focused upon issues related to mental health care, it also highlighted many of the other challenges facing the department like our outdated facilities and our long-standing needs in the area of security. We look forward to having an open and frank conversation with our state leadership about how to make meaningful investments into our department."

Governor Kay Ivey also issued a statement in regards to the decision, leaving open the door for a special session that could consider how to remedy shortfalls within ADOC facilities.

"I am committed to providing justice to all Alabamians by ensuring constitutionally-permissible conditions for all prisoners. I will be working closely with Commissioner Dunn and the leadership in the House and Senate to address the issues raised in today's order.

"All appropriate options at my disposal, including the possibility of a special session, will be considered as potential remedies to address the judge's order."

Brian Lyman contributed to this report.

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