ACLU sues California Department of State Hospitals over mortality records of mentally ill prisoners

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — The American Civil Liberties Union sued the California Department of State Hospitals on Monday morning, claiming the department did not comply with a public records request to produce full records of mentally ill prisoners who died in prison while awaiting beds at state treatment facilities.

The ACLU claims dozens of prisoners who were declared incompetent to stand trial died in custody while awaiting treatment at state hospitals between 2018 and 2023. In response to the ACLU’s public records request, the department informed the ACLU that 35 prisoners died between 2018 and 2023 but declined to provide any further details such as how the prisoners died or how long they had been on a waitlist for a bed. 

The department claims providing more details would violate the privacy rights of the dead, and that it does not track in-custody deaths of people on its waitlist.

The ACLU claims the department's conduct violates the California Public Records Act, and that it went to great lengths to stonewall the ACLU’s investigation by redacting documents, citing inapplicable exemptions, and asserting overbroad requirements for de-identification.

“It has heavily redacted court orders, which are otherwise publicly available. DSH also refused to produce any underlying data, despite being able to produce aggregate data where court-ordered to do so. By acting in this manner, DSH has impermissibly insulated itself from public scrutiny and accountability, thereby thwarting the objectives of the California Constitution and the CPRA,” the ACLU says in its complaint.

Emi MacLean, a senior staff attorney with the criminal justice program at the ACLU of Northern California, blasted the department in a press release announcing the lawsuit.

“The Department of State Hospitals is trying to hide behind privacy laws to insulate itself from public scrutiny. The fact that people with severe mental illness are dying in such numbers in California jails due to a lack of prompt treatment and a safe setting is unconscionable. DSH’s failure to disclose the basic information about these deaths is also illegal,” she said.

The ACLU claims the records are needed to monitor whether the state is properly taking care of prisoners who are not competent to stand trial, and that ACLU investigators had to go to great lengths to dig through public records, media reports and other sources to piece together information on how prisoners died.

In addition to the dead, the ACLU claims many individuals have remained in jail for extended periods of time on the waitlist for treatment at a facility, usually with inadequate treatment for their serious mental illness and in conditions that worsen their mental health and place them in danger. The ACLU claims that the longer a person is consigned to the waitlist, the less likely they will be restored to competency to stand trial.

In California, prisoners who are deemed incompetent to stand trial are committed by the court to the Department of State Hospitals for treatment. These services can occur at a state hospital, or a community or jail-based treatment program. A court may also order an individual diverted or charges dismissed in the interest of justice. The goal of the services or treatment is to permit criminal proceedings to resume, not to provide therapeutic care to treat the patient.

The ACLU claims this system is riddled with delays that leaves prisoners to languish in jails, violating their rights to due process. 

In 2015, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California sued the Department of State Hospitals and the Department of Developmental Services over the prolonged detention of people in county jails who have been declared incompetent to stand trial. In that case, Stiavetti v. Ahlin, the court ordered the state to ensure that by Feb. 27, 2024, all waitlisted defendants receive treatment within 28 days.

The latest lawsuit was filed as part of ACLU’s work to ensure compliance with the 2015 court order.

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