Case: Hansen v. Meyer

According to 3 Mental Disability L. Rep. 174 (1979):

Residents at a Michigan Psychiatric Center Seek to Alleviate Prison-like Conditions

Inmates and patients at the Center for Forensic Psychiatry in Ypsilanti, Michigan, have filed a class action suit against the Center to secure their statutory and Constitutional rights to treatment and to minimally humane living and environmental condi-

tions. Plaintiffs, persons who are incompetent to stand trial or have committed a crime but have been determined to be not guilty by reason of insanity, allege that, while the Center is supposed to be maintained as a mental treatment facility, it is actually run like a prison. Hansen v. Meyer, No.970128 [actual docket number is 79-70129] (E.D. Mich., filed Jan. 17, 1979).

Plaintiffs allege that Chapter 7 of the 1976 Michigan Mental Health Code, Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. ch. 330, entitles them to certain rights which are summarized in a pamphlet distributed to all residents at the facility. Included among those rights are the following: treatment with dignity and respect; a safe, sanitary and humane environment; treatment that fits the individual's needs based upon an up-to-date written service plan; and the right to refuse medication.

According to the complaint, what is actually provided is far different from the promise. (i) Plaintiffs are not able to refuse treatment, and the dosages are negligently prescribed and negligently supervised. (ii) "There is virtually no non-medical therapeutic treatment" despite the fact that the center employs 3 psychiatrists and 25 other clinicians. Clinicians do provide limited diagnostic services. (iii) Activities which do exist are strictly recreational, and they do not meet the needs of the residents. A newspaper published by the residents for their own benefit was censored and eventually eliminated by defendants. (iv) Plaintiffs' clothing is minimal and often in a state of disrepair.

As a result of these allegations, plaintiffs list many violations of their Constitutional and statutory rights: (i) due process, equal protection and Michigan statutory violations for not providing opportunities for treatment and therapy, (ii) equal protection, cruel and unusual punishment and Michigan statutory violations for failing to provide humane, safe and sanitary living conditions and (iii) First Amendment violations of speech, press and association by virtue of the defendants' censorship and termination of the residents' newspaper.

Plaintiffs seek money damages ($500 a day for each resident since 1976), injunctive and declaratory relief, and costs and reasonable attorney's fees.

The suit was filed by Kurt Berggren, Miriam L. Siefer and Neil E. Rutledge from the Wayne State University Law School Clinical Advocacy Program, 468 West Ferry, Detroit, Michigan 48202, (313) 577-3928.