Rasho v. Walker

376 F. Supp. 3d 888
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. Illinois
DecidedApril 22, 2019
DocketNo. 07-1298
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 376 F. Supp. 3d 888 (Rasho v. Walker) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rasho v. Walker, 376 F. Supp. 3d 888 (C.D. Ill. 2019).

Opinion

A. Correct.

(ECF No. 1758 at 50 ).

Dr. Hinton was also asked about the dangers the lack of appropriate staffing can have on an individual who is taking psychotropic medicine. His testimony went as follows:

Q. And you've heard all the ills that can come if somebody is on psychotropic medicine and it's not being monitored, right?
A. Correct.
Q. And you know that's dangerous, don't you?
A. Correct.
Q. And you know that the 6,000 people are being endangered every day they're not seen correctly; isn't that right?
A. Certainly is a concern, yes.
Q. It's more than a concern. It's your responsibility that they get that care; isn't that right?
A. Correct.
Q. And you know they're not getting it?
A. Correct.

(ECF No. 1758 at 52-53 ).

Dr. Hinton's testimony at the preliminary injunction hearing regarding inmates who are in segregation was extremely troublesome. Dr. Hinton explained:

Q. [ ]. Why do you have so many mentally ill people in segregation and so few regular population people in segregation?
A. I think, in general, the percentage of folks who are mentally ill tend to have more behavioral issues, in part because of their mental illness.
Q. So, you've got so many of them in segregation because they do -- they don't follow the rules well, right?
A. In part.
Q. And has anyone, to your knowledge, wondered whether or not putting mentally ill people in segregation is good for them?
*900A. Yes.
Q. Who's done that?
A. I have.
Q. And what's your view?
A. My view is there's nothing -- there's nothing that is a good thing about being in segregation. We need to make sure that they have proper access to treatment.
Q. Now, I believe your testimony the last time I took it on that subject was it won't hurt them if we treat them with the treatment they need, right?
A. Access to treatment, correct.
Q. But how do you know they're getting the treatment they need if they're in segregation?
A. That's why we have to make sure that there are no barriers to the access to treatment.
Q. But you don't have enough people?
A. Correct.
Q. So, you know they're not getting the right treatment?
A. We know that there's significant staffing shortages.
Q. They're not getting the right kind of psychiatric care, right?
A. We don't have -- correct, we don't have the right staffing requirements.
Q. They're not getting enough groups because you don't have enough people to run the groups?
A. Correct.
Q. And you know from your own personal judgment that if you're not doing that for people in segregation, they're going to get worse; isn't that right?
A. Across the board.

(ECF No. 1758 at 81-82 ) (emphasis added).

Second, Dr. Michael Dempsey, M.D., staff psychiatrist for Wexford Health Sources from January 2013, until September 2015, who was physically located at Pontiac Correctional Center, also testified about the lack of psychiatric staffing at the IDOC in the following manner:

Yeah, we don't have enough psychiatrists to treat the patients. We just don't. If I remember correctly, IDOC had projected that they needed 66-1/2 full-time-equivalent psychiatrists to provide care for the population within the IDOC. I'm not sure if we've reached 25 full-time-equivalents at this point since I haven't been working there for the last six months. I know it's not 66.

(ECF No. 1757 at 197 ). Dr. Dempsey further explained the problems associated with the lack of staffing are as follows:

I believe that we didn't have enough psychiatrists with the kind of expertise that is necessary to understand the correctional system.
Corrections is a unique environment. It takes into account the fact that a person with a serious mental illness who is not in a natural environment is somehow expected, without the kind of supports they need, to function adequately, to understand the rules, the regulations.
And when you have patients who are seriously mentally ill, who may be psychotic, who have impaired reality testing, and you put them in an environment where they're segregated, where they're not treated to any appropriate degree or subtherapeutically, and their options are limited, and they have to make important decisions, I find it becomes an emergent situation.

(ECF No. 1757 at 199 ).

Finally, when discussing the psychiatric and mental health backlog (more fully discussed below), Dr. Stewart explained during the preliminary injunction hearing:

Well, you know -- again, that backlog can't be taken in isolation. You gotta look at the overall system. So, here *901we're talking about, you know, increased use of crisis cells, increased use of restraints, increased use of force, people suffering because of untreated mental illness. All of that has to -- is linked in some way with the fact that patients aren't being seen frequently enough or seen at all.

(ECF No. 1757 at 260 )(Emphasis added). In his Mid-Year Report, Dr. Stewart further explained:

IDOC leadership has been well aware of the problems related to the insufficient amount of psychiatric services and yet has been unable to adequately solve this issue. At the time of the submission of this midyear report, however, the lack and quality of psychiatric services continues to negatively impact all aspects of the Settlement and contributes to IDOC being non-compliant in the vast majority of areas of the Settlement. Of note, these deficiencies regarding psychiatric services were reported in the First Annual Report. The Monitor personally met with Director Baldwin on 6/26/17 to discuss this problem. To date, IDOC is yet to effectively address this emergency.

(ECF No. 1646 at 9 ).

The record leaves no question there was constitutionally deficient care being provided by the Defendants at the time of the preliminary injunction hearing. The Court also finds for reasons stated herein, that despite the good efforts of the Defendants, constitutionally deficient care is still being provided. The Court's finding is based generally on the fact that there is insufficient mental health staffing at the IDOC.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
376 F. Supp. 3d 888, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rasho-v-walker-ilcd-2019.