Advocacy groups file new federal suit saying Louisiana again leaves incompetent defendants waiting in parish jails
The Advocate reported that civil rights lawyers filed a federal suit in Baton Rouge claiming Louisiana was once again failing to provide timely inpatient treatment for people found incompetent to stand trial. A similar 2010 suit had produced a consent decree that set a 45-day limit for admission to the state hospital, and the lawyers said comparable delays had resurfaced.
The suit, citing Department of Health and Hospitals records, said 22 people were waiting in jails for the Eastern Louisiana Mental Health System in Jackson as of October 23, 2015, four of them for more than 40 days. The named plaintiff, a 32-year-old Orleans Parish woman jailed since August on a vehicle theft charge, was ordered to the hospital October 1 and remained in jail without treatment, the suit said.
The lawyers asked the judge to consolidate it with an August 2014 suit over people found not guilty by reason of insanity. The department said it does not comment on pending litigation.
Source: New federal lawsuit: Louisiana too slow getting inmates ruled mentally incompetent out parish jails — The Advocate (Baton Rouge), by Joe Gyan Jr.
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