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| Dems Call Correctional Medical Authority Closing Invitation to Litigation |
| By sunshinestatenews.com: David Royse News Service of Florida |
| Published: 08/22/2011 |
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Democratic legislators on Friday criticized the Legislature for allowing the Correctional Medical Authority to close last week, saying it could lead to a lawsuit. The CMA provided oversight of medical care of Florida prisoners for a quarter century, but was the victim of a funding fight in the Legislature this year. Lawmakers passed legislation to eliminate it, but Gov. Rick Scott vetoed that legislation, in part because of concern that the state might be sued over how it cares for inmates if it got rid of CMA's oversight of prison health care. However, lawmakers didn't provide any funding for the office. “The shuttering of the Correctional Medical Authority was a grave mistake opening Florida and Florida taxpayers to the possibility of widespread financial and legal repercussions," Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, and Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, said Friday. CMA was set up in the 1990s as part of a consent agreement to end a lawsuit over how prisoners were taken care of. “By allowing legislative interference to block its funding, the closure of the CMA potentially violates, at a minimum, the spirit of Justice Susan Black’s 1993 court order settling the Costello v. Wainright class action litigation," Joyner and Pafford said in a joint statement. "Despite our efforts, and the governor’s veto of legislation eliminating the oversight group, the CMA was finished off behind the scenes, and outside the scrutiny of the media, the public, and other key stakeholders. "To pre-empt any attempts to hold the state of Florida in contempt, or open the door to new litigation as a result of its closure, we urge Governor Scott to explore all possible options, including the issuance of an executive order sustaining the CMA’s operations pending the return of the Legislature." The issue of the agency's possible elimination has come up for a couple years. During the transition period between the Crist administration and the Scott administration, CMA officials contemplated that possibility in a transition document made available to the incoming governor and his staff. "If the CMA is eliminated, Florida would be vulnerable to legal challenges to the constitutionality of health care provided to approximately 103,000 inmates in state correctional institutions, which could result in costly federal court intervention," the transition document said. "Approximately 35,000 inmates are released to the community each year. Significant portions of this population have communicable diseases which, if not treated appropriately, pose a public health risk to the community at large. Approximately 16-20 percent of the prison population has a diagnosed mental illness and a growing portion of this group has severe and persistent mental illness requiring ongoing treatment and aftercare planning." That risk to the public at large was cited by Scott when he vetoed the legislation eliminating the agency. Read More. |
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