FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 4, 2008
CONTACT: ACLU of Florida Communications Office, (786) 363-2737 or media@aclufl.org
DELAND, Fla. – The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida’s Volusia/Flagler County Chapter calls on the Volusia County Council to take action to ensure humane treatment of mentally ill persons who are detained in the county facility. The ACLU, along with mental health professionals and concerned citizens, will call for this action at the next meeting of the Volusia County Council on Thursday, August 7, 2008 in Deland.
Encouraged by a coalition of faith-based organizations, the Council enacted several policies, procedures and legislation earlier this year to protect mentally ill inmates in the county jail. However, the Council has yet to assure to the community that inmates are being treated humanely.
“It is timely and imperative that Volusia County thoroughly review the allegations over the last three years to determine the best action for moving forward. We have an obligation as a society to treat prisoners humanely and to ensure their general health and well-being,” said George Griffin, president of the Volusia/Flagler Chapter of the ACLU of Florida.
Currently psychiatric services at the Volusia County Jail are being supplied through a contract with Prison Health Services, Inc, a jail health provider widely criticized locally and nationally that is entrenched in lawsuits regarding allegations that inmates were not receiving psychotropic medication. Claims range from neglect and malpractice to violations of the 8th and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. The contract with PHS expires at the end of September, and the County Council is considering a contract renewal. The ACLU of Florida is calling upon the Council to investigate the serious allegations that were lodged against PHS.
The Daytona Beach News Journal has published several disturbing accounts of inhumane inmate treatment, including one death, mirroring a lengthy New York Times exposé on PHS in 2005. These incidents and other complaints have prompted the Public Defender’s Office and a local faith-based organization to call for changes in inmate mental health care.
Dr. Joyce Hamilton Henry, the Director of the ACLU of Florida’s Central Region Office, added that “We must remember that many of these inmates have not been convicted of any crime. Their dignity as well as their physical and mental health must be respected.”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida is freedom's watchdog, working daily in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend individual rights and personal freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. For additional information, visit our Web site at: www.aclufl.org.
Lawsuits brought by the ACLU have influenced the development of sound constitutional law. The ACLU provides legal assistance in cases in which it considers civil liberties to be at risk.
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