Jul. 13—JACKSON — Attorneys for the federal government and for Mississippi agree that the state needs to improve access to mental health services — but that's about the only thing they can agree on.
In a wide-ranging hearing at the federal courthouse in Jackson on Monday, attorneys representing the U.S. Department of Justice and the state of Mississippi disagreed sharply over what type of plan the court should order, if any, to ensure the state improves access to community mental health.
The DOJ is requesting the court issue a plan with increased community mental health services and rigorous accountability to ensure that the state follows through with its commitments to improve health access.
"The United States has put forth a narrowly tailored plan fulfilling the major gaps the court has identified," Deena Fox, a DOJ attorney, said.
Attorneys representing the state, on the other hand, believe that the state has made significant strides in the past two years, which should be enough for the court to essentially dismiss any pending litigation.
"The DOJ argues its proposal is narrowly tailored," Jim Shelson, an attorney representing the state, said. "It's anything but narrowly tailored."
Shelson argued that the federal government's request goes beyond the minimum requirements laid out in the Americans with Disabilities Act and place an undue burden on the state.
Dr. Michael Hogan, the special master advising the court on mental health systems, primarily sided with the state.
However, Hogan admitted that he has not validated the state's data on services to ensure that the services on paper match what is the reality across the state.
Federal mental health litigation has long history
The federal government began investigating the state's mental health system 10 years ago, and it concluded that Mississippi was unnecessarily segregating people with mental health into state-run hospitals for lengthy periods of time.
The state initially attempted to enter into a remediation process with the federal government, but that process eventually collapsed. The justice department then sued the state in 2016.
The state was forced to enter into a remedial process after Judge Reeves ruled in September 2019 that Mississippi was in violation of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act because there were inadequate resources in Mississippi communities to treat people with mental illnesses effectively.
It's been five years since the justice department first filed suit against the state, which could be felt by attorneys present in the courtroom. The justice department attorneys were supposed to catch a flight on Monday afternoon, but those plans were delayed because of the lengthy court proceedings.