Sixteen defendants found guilty except for insanity wait in Oregon jails for hospital beds despite orders
Street Roots reported that, as of July 16, 2021, 16 people found guilty except for insanity were held in Oregon jails despite orders sending them to the Oregon State Hospital, a pattern aired at a July 14 contempt hearing; one person had been waiting since January. The hospital's defense was that aid-and-assist defendants, who must be admitted under a seven-day federal court mandate, take priority.
Aid-and-assist commitments made up 933 of roughly 1,040 hospital admissions between April 2020 and early July 2021, almost 90 percent, and 28 such defendants were then waiting in jail. Hospital testimony put aid-and-assist commitments at 70.3 a month in 2021, up from 30.5 a month in 2012. The article traces the priority rule to a 2002 Disability Rights Oregon lawsuit and a June 2019 finding that the hospital willfully violated the admission order.
It also notes that the Legislature approved $474.4 million in behavioral health funding, including about $72 million for the hospital to add two 24-bed units and 110 staff positions.
Source: Despite court orders, 16 held in jail rather than Oregon State Hospital — Street Roots, by Henry Brannan
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