Prison Legal News tallies state and federal contempt fights over Oregon's jailed aid-and-assist defendants
Prison Legal News reported that the hospital was systematically failing to move defendants out of jail within seven days of a commitment order, as required by the Mink decisions of 2002 and 2003. The article cites more than 200 jailed defendants past the deadline as of February 2019, including 63 charged only with misdemeanors, and describes their conditions worsening during long jail stays.
Washington County Circuit Judge D. Charles Bailey held the hospital in contempt on June 3, 2019, in the cases of several defendants, but the sanction was only $100 per day of noncompliance. State officials acknowledged the violations and blamed budget limits and the growing criminalization of homelessness and mental illness.
The piece is a useful summary of how county-level contempt and the federal suit ran in parallel in 2019.
Source: Oregon Faces State and Federal Contempt Proceedings Over Delayed Competency Services for Mentally Ill Defendants – Again — Prison Legal News, by Mark Wilson
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