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| Mentally ill inmates sue over treatment |
| By The State |
| Published: 06/21/2005 |
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In the first lawsuit of its kind in South Carolina, state prisoners and an advocacy group contend the S.C. Department of Corrections has failed for years to adequately treat mentally ill inmates. The lawsuit, filed Monday in Circuit Court in Richland County, seeks class-action status on behalf of all mentally ill inmates in the state's 29 prisons. The precise number of affected inmates isn't known, though the lawsuit said that as of last year, the Corrections Department had diagnosed 2,146 inmates - about 9 percent of the state's approximate 24,000 inmate population - as being mentally ill. The lawsuit requests that a judge order the department and the S.C. General Assembly - also named as a defendant - to "design, maintain, fund and provide resources for a reasonable and adequate system" for treating mentally ill inmates. Gloria Prevost, executive director of Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities Inc., a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said Monday she and others met privately earlier this year with Corrections director Jon Ozmint and his staff to "possibly see if a lawsuit could be avoided." "We could not agree on the next steps to do that," she said. Efforts to reach Ozmint were unsuccessful Monday. Department lawyer Robert Petersen declined comment, as did agency spokeswoman Donna Hodges, saying only that the department "will not try this case in the media." Rep. Bill Cotty, R-Richland, a member of the budget-writing House Ways and Means Committee, said he couldn't predict whether the Legislature will find extra money next year for mentally ill inmates. Asked whether he thought those inmates receive inadequate treatment, Cotty, a lawyer, replied, "I've seen cases where people allege that, and I've seen little proof where that is the truth." The lawsuit doesn't seek money damages on behalf of inmates. One of the state's most powerful law firms, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough - which often defends businesses in lawsuits - is representing the inmates for free. The lawsuit was filed by Prevost's group and three mentally ill inmates, identified only by their initials, on behalf of themselves and other affected inmates. |
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