If you are looking for a classic example of the lack of political leadership in South Carolina, look no further than the front page of today’s Greenville News. Circuit Judge Michael Baxley issued a 45 page ruling that gives the state Department of Corrections six months to formulate a plan on how to deal with better serving its mentally ill inmates. Baxley said his ruling, “should not come as a shock” to the agency. “Despite its knowledge of the grave risks these deficiencies pose to mentally ill inmates SCDC has failed through the years to take reasonable steps to abate those risks.” Apparently the decision and revelations of mistreatment of mentally ill prisoners comes as a shock to Senator Mike Fair, of Greenville, the chairman of the Senate Corrections and Penology Committee who told The Greenville News “I didn’t know that we had a problem with any particular aspect of mistreating or not treating inmates who have a diagnosis of mental illness.”

Yes, that’s right the chairman of the committee that provides oversight of the SC Department of Corrections was unaware there was a problem. That’s strange since the group that brought this lawsuit, Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities, sued the Corrections Department in 2005 on behalf of several mentally ill inmates, including one suffering from paranoid schizophrenia who said he was kept for years in an isolation cell, seeing a counselor only once a month.

During the month long trial, Corrections Department officials disputed the claims brought by Protection and Advocacy. Attorney Andrew Lindemann said that the Corrections Department had no legal obligation to implement any of the recommendations from reports cited in the lawsuit. “It’s an issue of public policy. It’s not an issue for the courts.” He noted in his closing statement that Corrections was doing the best it could with limited state funding. “They’re trying and doing their very best with the limited resources provided to them by the members of the General Assembly.”

Judge Baxley rejected that defense tactic, “The decisions of our courts reflect the values of our society.

To that end our state can no longer tolerate a mental health system at the SC Department of Corrections that has broken down due to a lack of finances and focus.”

Judge Baxley ended his ruling by scolding the agency for failing to settle the case in the first place and for spending so much money in the process, noting that the prison system had fought the lawsuit, “tooth and nail,” and should now consider using money it would spend on future legal battles over the lawsuit for improving inmates mental health treatment.

The SC Department of Corrections issued a statement that said it would appeal Baxley’s decision.

And so it goes…

http://www.thestate.com/2014/01/08/3195980/judge-finds-sc-prison-system-violates.html