To: Legal_Services-s@n...
Subject: E-lert -- January 10, 2003
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The Brennan Center's Legal Services E-lert reports on civil legal services. Legal Services Corporation (LSC) grantee programs are identified by the phrase "LSC-funded." Programs not so identified are believed to receive funds exclusively from other sources.
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Represented by the Urban Justice Center and N.Y. Lawyers for the Public Interest, Mentally Ill Inmates of N.Y.C.'s Rikers Island Jail Obtain City's Agreement to Provide Assistance With Post-Release Treatment
A class of mentally ill inmates at Rikers Island jail in New York City has obtained a favorable settlement in Brad H. v. City of New York, in which the class had contended that New York City violates state law by failing to provide treatment and support services to individuals following release. The class is represented by the Urban Justice Center and the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI), with pro bono assistance from Debevoise & Plimpton. The lawsuit was filed in 1999 by seven mentally ill inmates of Rikers Island on behalf of the 25,000 inmates treated for mental illness annually at the jail. In 1999, inmates with mental illnesses received upon release only a $3 Metrocard and $1.50 in cash, the same benefits provided to other inmates. In 2000, the New York Supreme Court ordered the City to help mentally ill inmates plan for treatment upon release. Under the new settlement agreement, for the next five years the City will help mentally ill inmates who are approaching release to obtain Medicaid and welfare benefits, housing, medication and treatment outside of the jail, and will provide them with transportation from the prison to their homes or to shelters. The City continues to deny that it has a statutory obligation to provide such services, but in entering the settlement has said that it recognizes that such services benefit the inmates and society. NYLPI senior lawyer John A. Gresham says that the City's decision to settle is "very much the humane thing to do, and in the interest of the city generally."
Susan Saulny, City Agrees to Help Care for Mentally Ill Inmates After Release, The New York Times, Jan. 9, 2003, page reference unavailable; Tom Perrotta, City Settles Class Action, Agrees to Provide Health Care to Released Mentally Ill Inmates, New York Law Journal, Jan. 9, 2003, page reference unavailable.
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The Legal Services E-lert is authored by Jennie Rabinowitz and edited by Laura Abel and David Udell. Because the E-lert summarizes stories reported by others, the views presented are not necessarily those of the Brennan Center. In the event that a legal services program is the subject of a particularly adverse story, we strive to afford that program an opportunity to comment before the E-lert goes to press.
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