Disability Rights Mississippi sues the mental health department again over records on its forensic unit
Disability Rights Mississippi sued the Department of Mental Health for the second time in 2022 after the agency refused record requests tied to the group's investigation of how people with mental illness are treated in the State Hospital's forensic unit. The requests included waiting lists for forensic evaluations and services and a list of patients who entered not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity pleas.
Mississippi Today reported that the investigation began with a man charged with murder in 2017 who remained in the Jasper County jail for three years after State Hospital doctors found him incompetent to stand trial in 2019. The department argued the group had not shown enough evidence to justify an investigation, and the U.S. Department of Justice filed an amicus brief backing the group's broad investigative authority.
A federal judge was set to decide whether the department must release the records, which would show who is waiting for forensic beds and for how long.
Source: Watchdog group again sues mental health agency — Mississippi Today, by Will Stribling
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