A state appeals panel has ruled that New York City is no longer required to fulfill a 2003 mandate to provide services to inmates with mental illnesses after they are released from prison.
The August 10 decision reverses an injunction by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Marilyn Shafer last year that required the city to continue complying with terms of the settlement in Brad H. v. City of New York, a lawsuit that was filed in 1999 by a group of inmates from city jails.
The panel said the court no longer has the power to continue enforcing the settlement, which required the city to provide services to inmates leaving prison beginning in 2003 and lasting for five years. Those services included mental health treatment, medication, assistance applying for public benefits and transportation to a home or shelter.
Roberta Mueller of the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, along with Emily O'Neill Slater, Christopher Tahbaz, Julie Calderon and Matthew Hackell of Debevoise & Plimpton, represented the plaintiffs.
The dispute surrounded the date when the requirement expired. The plaintiffs brought their case on May 22, charging that the city did not comply with the settlement terms. They said this was before the expiration of the five-year window, based on the 2003 date when the city came into significant compliance with the settlement terms. Justice Shafer agreed, saying the requirement continued until July.
The city disputed the injunction, arguing that the five-year window had ended in late April. The appeals panel, in a 3-2 ruling, said the requirement expired before the plaintiffs brought their case in May 2009, rendering Justice Shafer’s injunction powerless.
The dissenting justices, Sallie Manzanet-Daniels and Peter Tom, argued that the requirement period ended June 2, and the lawsuit was filed on time.
The city’s compliance with the settlement terms was debated throughout the program’s existence.
In February 2005, James Capoziello, Deputy Commissioner for the Division of Health Care Access and Improvement of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, spoke about the provision of services to the City Council committee in charge of disability and mental health services.
Capoziello reported that there had been a “a significant overall increase in meeting the performance measures as set forth by the monitors.” He said the staffing level for the program consisted of 70 people, including 27 social workers, 22 case workers and nine supervisors.
But two years later, in April 2007, Jennifer Parish, Director of Criminal Justice Advocacy at the Urban Justice Center's Mental Health Project, told the City Council that the city was out of compliance with some provisions of the agreement.
Parish, who provided counsel to the plaintiffs in the 1999 case, said the city failed to provide services that were appropriate to individuals’ needs, such as collecting information about an inmate’s medical conditions before offering them assistance. She said some staff positions were also vacant.
Parish warned in her testimony that further legal action could be taken if compliance was not improved.
This article was published in the October 2010 issue of Able News.
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