Federal judge orders Marion County to comply with his Oregon State Hospital orders

This story was updated at 5:30 p.m. Thursday to include responses from Disability Rights Oregon and the Marion County District Attorney

A federal judge reprimanded the Marion County District Attorney and the County District Court, ordering them to stop using "implausible workarounds" and comply with a previous ruling to place patients who had met stay limits at the Oregon State Hospital into community restoration programs.

Senior U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman's Tuesday order told Marion County to expedite finding community restoration services for those who cannot return to the hospital after being released.

Mosman responded after the state hospital asked him to clarify the meaning of a clause in his Second Amended Order, which states a defendant cannot have "consecutive periods of restoration," unless they are charged with a new crime after they are release from the psychiatric hospital.

Mosman said the county has acted as if their defendants take priority over others.

"So how did we get here — again — with Marion County coming up with implausible workarounds and threatening well-meaning, overworked public health workers with the draconian punishment of contempt," he said in his order.

Disability Rights Oregon, the state advocacy group who initially asked Mosman to take action, said they were shocked by Marion County's response to the judge's order.

"The law is very clear, and it appears that the county doesn't think the law applies to them, and that's concerning," said Emily Cooper, legal director of Disability Rights Oregon.

Marion County District Attorney Paige Clarkson disagreed, saying the meaning of Mosman's previous order was not clear. The county was trying to do what was best for a defendant from Lane County, she said.

"Nobody is trying to thwart the federal order," Clarkson told the Statesman Journal. "What we are trying to do is work within a system that is completely broken."

Marion County Commissioner Colm Willis, who has previously criticized the Mosman order, said he supports the actions of the county attorney and circuit court.

"It’s unfortunate that Judge Mossman was so disrespectful of a Marion County judge’s attempt to keep our community safe," said Willis.

Friction between Marion County and Judge Mosman

Mosman in September 2022 set strict limits on how long aid and assist patients can stay at the state hospital. The order was intended to help get patients in and out of quicker, he and defense lawyers said, so defendants waiting for admission to the hospital could avoid spending lengthy times in county jails.

Marion County and some other counties appealed the order citing insufficient community resources to treat defendants once they are released.

"What Marion County has been trying to point out from the very beginning of this is that this isn't working," Clarkson said.

Mosman denied the appeal but later amended his order to allow counties to request longer stays for patients needing further treatment before they are able to aid their legal counsel.

If a patient cannot go to the state hospital, they must receive treatment within the community or at a residential treatment facility. Many counties say they have no option but to release the defendants because there aren't enough treatment beds available, and facilities that have beds available don't necessarily have robust treatment options.

Mosman evoked the Supremacy Clause on Marion County in September, ordering them to accept patients released from the state hospital who had reached the stay limits he established.

The day after Mosman's order, Marion County sued the Oregon Health Authority and Oregon State Hospital, saying the state has failed to fund, build and staff enough beds for individuals who need inpatient behavioral health restoration services.

Mosman's orders fix one piece of a very complex system, said Clarkson, adding the county maintains it is the state's responsibility to care for people who are too sick to aid in their own defense.

Clarkson filed a memorandum asking for reconsideration when the state hospital denied admission of the Lane County defendant that had previously been admitted for 14 months on charges there.

Marion County Circuit Court had been holding hearings resulting in orders prohibiting the release of defendants from the state hospitals in Salem and Junction City.

Judge Audrey Broyles responded to Clarkson's memo and ordered the hospital to re-admit the defendant after he was found unable to aid his lawyer in his defense.

Background on the case Judge Mosman cited Tuesday

In July 2020, a Lane County defendant was committed to the state hospital in Salem after being found unable to aid his lawyer in his defense. He escaped the state hospital in August.

In September 2021, he was charged in Lane County for different crimes, and in October was charged in Marion County for the escape. He was first arrested on the Lane County charge, and was recommitted to the state hospital in November.

After his release in January, he was arrested on the Marion County escape charges from 2021 and was ordered to be admitted again to the state hospital.

But under Mosman's order, he was not eligible to be admitted to the hospital again because the crimes of escape from the hospital and assault were not committed after his release, the judge said in his Tuesday order.

Mosman said even though there may not be enough resources to meet everyone's needs, it is important that those available are dispersed equally.

It is unlikely further psychiatric hospital care would make a difference for the defendant in the case and resources would be better used on patients who are still awaiting assessment and hospital care, he said.

Clarkson said she was frustrated with the lack of options available for the defendant, saying: "He has nowhere to be, nowhere to go. He has nothing."

The county, she said, will have to dismiss the case against him.

Mosman said in his ruling: "Many people involved in this system have come together and made significant sacrifices to make it work."

"These are serious-minded people passionate about their client's interests. Yet they have sought the greater good, and it has led to some success. They include representatives from almost every other county in Oregon. It would be nice if Marion County would join them."

Sydney Wyatt covers healthcare inequities in the Mid-Willamette Valley for the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions, and tips to her at SWyatt@gannett.com, (503) 399-6613, or on Twitter @sydney_elise44

The Statesman Journal’s coverage of healthcare inequities is funded in part by the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, which seeks to strengthen the cultural, social, educational, and spiritual base of the Pacific Northwest through capacity-building investments in the nonprofit sector.  

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Marion County ordered to follow Oregon State Hospital ruling