A judge is ordering Washington state to pay more than $100 million in fines after finding that state officials failed to provide adequate mental health services to mentally ill people in jail.
The ruling stems from a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of people with mental health disabilities who were charged with crimes and ordered by a judge to have a competency evaluation. If found incompetent to face charges, the state must then provide services to restore their competency to stand for trial.
U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman, in an order late Friday (pdf), found the state in contempt and said that the Washington Department of Social and Health Services has been making mentally ill people charged with crimes wait in jails for extended periods for their competency evaluations, violating their constitutional rights….