At the Houston Press Meagan Flynn had another recent story on the topic.State public health officials say there were 388 people on waiting lists for state hospitals as of April 1.“Almost all of our state hospitals are currently at capacity, and we are admitting patients as soon as other patients are discharged,” said Christine Mann, a spokeswoman for the Department of State Health Services.Meanwhile, more than half of state hospital beds go to people who have been ordered there under a “forensic” commitment through the criminal justice system. Texans who were found by a court to be not guilty of a crime by reason of insanity or who were considered incompetent to stand trial currently fill about 1,200 state hospital beds.That leaves only about 1,100 beds available at any given time for people, like Contreras’ son, who seek treatment outside of the criminal justice system.
Perhaps more importantly, society is not less convinced of the absolute accuracy of the criminal justice system. A 2012 study by the University of Michigan and Northwestern University law school ranks Texas number three nationally in wrongful convictions over the last twenty years, behind Illinois and New York. ... In my time on this Court, I have voted to grant numerous applications for writs of habeas corpus that resulted in the release of dozens of people who were wrongfully convicted, and I conclude that it is wishful thinking to believe that this State will never execute an innocent person for capital murder. ... There is no rational basis to believe that this same type of human error will not infect capital murder trials. This is true now more than ever in light of procedural rules that have hastened the resolution of applications for writs of habeas corpus and limited subsequent applications for habeas relief. This Court has seen too many initial applications for writs of habeas corpus that were filed by ineffective attorneys, and yet applicants have not been permitted to file subsequent applications to challenge the ineffectiveness of those attorneys. The lack of a guarantee of effective counsel in an initial application for habeas relief, combined with this Court's refusal to consider a subsequent writ that alleges the ineffectiveness of initial counsel, increases the risk that an innocent person may be executed for capital murder based on the procedural default of a possibly meritorious issue. I conclude that the increased danger that a wrongfully convicted person will be executed for capital murder that he did not commit is an irrational risk that should not be tolerated by our criminal justice system. (Citations omitted.)That critique should by no means be limited to capital cases. The same procedural defect prevents lots of legitimate innocence (and other valid) claims. Most habeas corpus writs, particularly non-capital ones, are submitted pro se by inmates without the benefit of counsel. Then later when a lawyer gets involved, there are many claims precluded by failures in the first, pro se writ. Happens all the time.
Combs’ official revenue estimate showed that Texas lawmakers, who convene at noon Tuesday, will have $101.4 billion in general revenue to spend in the 2014-15 budget, a 12.4 percent increase over the current two-year budget.Much of that increase, though, is an illusion. State budget writers intentionally underfunded Medicaid by $5.4 billion - an amount they must immediately pay once session begins - and once that's spent, they'll have just enough general revenue to cover the amount state agencies have requested for the biennium. That's hardly a huge windfall, and that's before they consider reimbursing the billions in "dedicated" funds they raided to balance the budget in 2011.
That amount would provide sufficient surplus revenue in the current budget to close some sizable holes and also cover the $96 billion that state agencies have said would be necessary to maintain the current level of services for a growing population. Combs also projected the rainy day fund would have $11.8 billion available.
do a long-range forecast of revenue and expenditures that looks five or more years into the future to better plan and see the implications of policy changes.On the criminal justice front, there are several areas where Grits considers the system in need of immediate additional spending, but also areas where the Lege could further cut. Let's run through a few.
He said the state is unlikely to do that because it’s “eye-opening” and makes people think, “We’re going to have to change our ways here and make some adjustments or this isn’t going to work. It raises a lot of questions you don’t immediately have answers to.”
DPS in Austin recently issued a letter to all law enforcement and district attorneys with some troubling details stating that "seizures and submissions have increased" and that "blood alcohol cases has also skyrocketed." It goes on to say that it has resulted in a "significant impact on the ability of the laboratory system to conduct controlled substance analysis in a timely manner."There's been surprisingly little media coverage nor, so far, public discussion of the need to further expand DPS crime lab capacity in the face of recent rationing. One wouldn't expect the agency to make a dent in the problem for less than a low-nine figure investment. In its Legislative Appropriations Request [pdf], the agency asked for an additional $20 million for additional controlled substances and DNA analysts, but from all I've heard that's a stopgap figure; it would cost more to proactively prepare for the upward growth curve in demand for crime lab services. OTOH, outsourcing the backlog in the long-run could cost even more.
And that means making some temporary changes. To be able to lighten the load on the labs, a limit on how many items can be tested in DNA has been set. No more than ten items can be sent to the lab for testing. before, investigators had no limit.
The county also decided that when it comes to drug cases, our lab for now will only test harder drugs.
The Department of State Health Services has spent more than $2 million on bond interest for a psychiatric hospital that it doesn't own and that was championed by Senate Finance Chairman Tommy Williams.Ball further observed that: "On its face, the state's contract with Montgomery County seems to prohibit any payments on the facility. 'Department funds must not be used to purchase buildings or real property,' the contract states. 'Any costs related to the initial acquisition of buildings or real property are not allowable.'"However, "State Health Services, however, says interest payments are acceptable because they are considered an ongoing expense of the facility." But think about it: If you take out a mortgage to build your house, isn't the interest part of the cost of construction? The same is true for this project.
But that's not all the state is paying for, said Montgomery County Commissioner Ed Chance, who spearheaded the effort to build the Conroe facility. If its allocations remain the same, State Health Services will eventually pay off the entire $32 million Montgomery County borrowed to finance the hospital, he said.
"If they hadn't agreed to the funding behind it, we wouldn't have built it," Chance said.
The state maintains that it's not covering the total cost of the hospital's construction, just the interest. State Health Services pays the county $15 million a year for psychiatric services for patients accused of crimes and deemed incompetent to stand trial.
Two mentally disabled men who reportedly committed minor felony offenses remain on a legal merry-go-round because the McLennanThe direct costs are racking up while the men wait for months on end in legal limbo:
County District Attorney’s office will not dismiss the charges and a doctor has deemed that they never will be competent to stand trial.
A third mentally disabled man had been caught up in the judicial system with the other two until he died of cancer in April.
The district attorney’s office dismissed the felony burglary of a habitation case against him two days before he died, but only after the man’s attorney convinced prosecutors that his illness rapidly would overtake him.
While the criminal cases are pending, the men and their families or caregivers are required to come to court every 120 days for a status hearing. The law says the men must be re-examined by a mental health professional paid for by the countyevery 120 days to judge their competency and their lawyers are paid by the county for each court appearance.One of the men is retarded with an IQ of 55 who broke into a doughnut shop ... wait for it ... because he wanted a doughnut. Even the doughnut shop owner doesn't want him prosecuted, but the DA won't dismiss charges.
A psychiatrist is paid $600 for each examination and the lawyers are paid about $150 for each court appearance.
The three men have been examined three times each and been in court three times each, costing taxpayers about $6,750 in fees so far. And that does not include the cost for the brief stints they spent in the McLennan County Jail.
Dr. Lee Carter, a Waco psychologist who is appointed by the court to make competency determinations but has not been involved with these men, said the cases illustrate flaws in the mental health system, which have worsened in recent years because of state budget cuts to such services.Grits agrees with that sentiment, but that doesn't let Abel Reyna off the hook. Prosecutors are given discretion in such cases exactly to allow them to resolve intractable situations like this one. His failure to exercise it, not to mention his disdain for the rights of the accused, is on him.
“Frankly, I don’t know the answer to this situation,” Carter said. “This is a perfect example of how the legal system has in too many ways become a mental health provider for the community.
“You get a certain number of people who are mentally retarded or certainly mentally ill who commit offenses, if not minor offenses, who keep coming through the legal system. I think the fact that these people keep coming through the courts highlights for the public at large that we are not doing a good job of caring for those in our midst who have special needs.”
State officials say they can't obey a court order forcing them to move more than 150 mentally incompetent prisoners to psychiatric hospitals by June 1 because they don't have enough space, staff or money to do so.
The Texas attorney general's office has asked Austin-based state District Judge Orlinda Naranjo to review her January decision forcing the Department of State Health Services to start moving all current "forensic commitments" to state psychiatric hospitals by June 1. All such prisoners who arrive after that date would have to be moved to a psychiatric hospital within 21 days of a judge's order. Forensic patients are people accused of crimes who have been deemed incompetent to stand trial because of mental illness.
Complying with the court order would cost between $39 million and $55.2 million, according to a motion for a new trial filed by the attorney general's office this month.See prior, related Grits posts:
"The short timelines set forth in the court's order makes it physically, fiscally and logistically impossible for DSHS to comply and indicates a lack of appreciation for the magnitude of the task and the complications inherent in implementing the terms of the order," the state wrote in its motion.
The attorney general has also appealed the ruling with the state's 3rd Court of Appeals.
UT Health Science Center is hiring for positions including a psychiatrist, psychologists, nurses, hospital aides (psyc techs), social workers, nurse practitioners, physicians assistants, recreational therapists and a chaplain for two units they are opening in March 2012.Didn't know that was happening, but perhaps it will contribute to short-term relief with the shortage of "forensic beds" at state hospitals designated for competency restoration. Relatedly, at the Dallas News Somer Ingram had a story published February 6 discussing Judge Orlinda Naranjo's yet-to-be finalized ruling (pdf) on timely admission of inmates needing competency restoration into state hospitals, discussed on Grits here and here. The story ("State may be forced to find room for mentally ill inmates," behind paywall) opened:
1. Adult Forensic Detention Unit at The University of Texas Harris County Psychiatric Center (UTHCPC): The forensic unit will treat mentally ill individuals with medicine, psychiatric and psychological treatment who have committed a criminal offense and are in jail awaiting trial.
The state could be scrambling to make room in medical facilities for hundreds of mentally incompetent prisoners after a judge ordered that they can no longer be housed long-term in county jails.This court ruling has been years in the making and is potentially a game changer, but it may also turn out to be a temporary "check" in a much larger chess match. How will the state comply? What happens if they don't? Will appellate courts (or for that matter judges in other jurisdictions) back Naranjo's order, which has statewide implications? (For that matter, I'm unclear whether the Court of Criminal Appeals would get the case or the Texas Supreme Court - I suspect the latter.) How many new forensic beds are needed to comply with the terms of her order¿Quien sabe?
State District Judge Orlinda Naranjo of Austin is expected to soon finalize her ruling, requiring that inmates whose mental illness prohibits them from standing trial be moved to state psychiatric hospitals within 21 days of receiving the order to be committed. The ruling will force the already-underfunded Department of State Health Services to find room and money for these inmates.
The inmates have typically been ordered to get treatment at a state hospital to restore competency and be able to stand trial. But because there is a perpetual wait for the 800 hospital beds set aside for patients from jails, inmates are put on a “Clearinghouse List” and confined to county jails until space opens up in a state hospital.
Prisoners spent about six months in jail waiting for a bed in a psychiatric facility over the past two years, their mental states deteriorating even further without proper psychiatric care. In Dallas County, 77 inmates are waiting to be admitted to a state hospital. All have been waiting longer than the 21 days the new rules would require.
“Keeping incompetent pretrial criminal defendants confined in county jail for unreasonable periods of time prior to being admitted to a state mental health facility or residential health facility violates the incompetent detainees’ due process rights as guaranteed by the Texas Constitution,” Naranjo wrote last month, ruling against the state in a civil case.
Naranjo’s ruling comes as something of a wakeup call for the state, which has underfunded state hospitals for years and made jails de facto care facilities for the mentally ill. But finding space in the hospitals remains a challenge.
Experts worry that changing the rules with no additional funding will mean a greater share of hospital slots dedicated as “forensic beds” for inmates, and no room in state hospitals for patients who don’t come from the jail system.
Department of State Health Services spokeswoman Carrie Williams said the department is already looking at how it would logistically comply with the final order but hasn’t gotten far yet.
“The problem is that forensic beds don’t turn over very quickly because the lengths of stays can be quite long,” Williams said. “We are evaluating right now what resources we have, what options are available and what changes we might need to make. We’ll of course have to look at space and staff as well.”
The attorney general, representing the state, has not yet decided whether to appeal the decision.
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