Oregon Reaches Compliance During Contempt Order, Transports in 7 Days to Hospital People Unable to Aid and Assist

Disability Rights Oregon calls compliance a floor, not a finish line

Portland, Ore.-Disability Rights Oregon (DRO) announced today that the State of Oregon has achieved and sustained compliance with the federal court order in Oregon Advocacy Center v. Mink- Oregon Advocacy Center was Disability Rights Oregon's former name. In 2002, the federal court permanently required Oregon to transport from jail to the Oregon State Hospital within seven days any person who is unable to aid and assist in their own defense due to severe mental illness. Due to the state's failure to comply with the federal court's order, U.S. District Court Judge Adrienne Nelson held Oregon in contempt for more than a year. During this time, wait times have reduced and are now at or below seven days, meeting the standard first set by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 2002.

"Compliance with Mink is not a favor to people with mental illness - it's the constitutional floor. For years, Oregon has struggled to meet this seven-day deadline. This is critical because every extra day in a jail cell without treatment is a day someone's mental health can further deteriorate, sometimes irreversibly. " - Emily Cooper, Legal Director at Disability Rights Oregon

Reaching compliance is a significant achievement, but it does not resolve the underlying crises of Oregon's behavioral health system and a state psychiatric hospital strained for years by overcrowding, staff turnover, and admission backlogs that left people languishing for weeks in jail without treatment and, in several instances, resulted in death.

"Holding the line at seven days took sustained pressure, court oversight, and hard work, but compliance can slip as quickly as it was won. Oregon still needs the community mental health beds, outpatient treatment, housing, and crisis services that keep people out of jail and out of the hospital in the first place. Until that exists at scale, this system will stay fragile." - Emily Cooper, Legal Director at Disability Rights Oregon

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Disability Rights Oregon

Disability Rights Oregon upholds the civil rights of people with disabilities to live, work, and engage in the community. Serving as Oregon's Protection & Advocacy system since 1977, the nonprofit works to transform systems, policies, and practices to give more people the opportunity to reach their full potential.