Brief Filed: 2/18
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Year of Decision: 2019
Issue
Whether the government owes a duty, under the U.S. Constitution, to provide discharge planning – including an interim supply of needed medications and assistance in gaining access to mental health resources after release from confinement – to an individual with serious mental illness held in government custody.
Index Topics
Rights of Incarcerated Persons to Mental Health Treatment
Facts
Charles and Small were held for extended periods of time in civil immigration detention and then peremptorily discharged from the Orange County Correctional Facility in New York without any plan for post discharge treatment for mental illness. Each had serious mental illness (bipolar and paranoid schizophrenic) and each had been provided with mental health care that successfully stabilized their condition while they were incarcerated. Each was discharged without any plan for treatment or even any information about the treatment they had received. Each suffered setbacks as a result of the failure to plan for post discharge care. Together they subsequently brought suit to seek a court ruling that detainees have a constitutional right to such a discharge treatment plan.
APA’s Position
APA partnered with American Psychiatric Association to provide the court with professional information about mental illness in the prison population and the norm of providing discharge treatment plans.
Results
On May 24, 2019, the Second Circuit issued an opinion overturning the district court’s order of dismissal, finding that the plaintiff had properly alleged a failure to provide discharge planning as a required aspect of in-custody medical care. The court relied on APA’s brief (PDF, 270KB)opens in new window at pages 23-24.
Date created: 2018