Two state agencies are being sued by the American Civil Liberties Union requiring that they speed up transfer of mentally incompetent inmates from county jails to state mental health facilities.
According to a report by KQED Senior Correspondent Scott Shafer, delays in transfer to state mental health facilities can leave developmentally disabled inmates in county jails for up to a year.
Micaela Davis, co-lead attorney for the ACLU’s lawsuit, comments, “Jail is simply too dangerous a place for these most vulnerable defendants.”
She adds, “Oftentimes these incompetent defendants don’t have the ability to follow rules; they get confused. This can result in them being subject to disciplinary sanctions or result in them being confined to solitary confinement, which only exacerbates their mental health condition.”
According to the law, inmates with mental health issues must receive treatment within 35 days. Because of the lag in transfers, these inmates are not receiving proper treatment, prompting the ACLU’s lawsuit.
California State Sheriffs’ Association’s spokesperson Cory Salzillo stated the CSSA is collaborating with the state to expedite transfer process in order to shorten the stay of mentally ill inmates in county jails.
In written statements, the Department of State Hospitals and the Department of Developmental Services wrote that they are in the process of adding more beds to accommodate developmentally-disabled inmates so they can appear before the courts.