State, DOJ debate merits of external monitor in ongoing mental health lawsuit
Northeast Mississippi Daily JournalJun 22, 2021
Jun. 22—JACKSON — The question of whether or not an outside monitor should evaluate
Attorneys with the
Attorneys representing
"Simply put, if you want a Monitor at this late stage of this litigation, then tell the Court with specificity what you are proposing the Monitor should do," attorneys representing the state wrote. "Because that has not been done, no Monitor should be appointed."
The federal government in its response supports monitoring provisions and argued that the state's mental health services "on paper" could differ drastically from the services that are actually reaching Mississippians with severe mental illness.
"Verification of 'the actual availability' and provision of services, regular reporting, and external monitoring will be critical to ensuring that the State provides appropriate community-based services to people who are in State Hospitals needlessly," the DOJ attorneys wrote.
Both filings were an answer to a previous court order asking the two parties to submit responses to a report by Dr.
Hogan submitted a report on
"The Special Master finds that there are some strengths in
The court will convene a hearing on
If Reeves rules in any way that could be viewed as detrimental to the state, the AG's office could appeal the ruling to a higher court.
Before speaking at a political event in
However, it is unclear if Fitch and the AG's office believe that an order appointing an external monitor would be grounds to appeal to the
___
(c)2021 the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (Tupelo, Miss.)
Visit the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (Tupelo, Miss.) at www.djournal.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.