Oregon asks Ninth Circuit to drop contempt over state psychiatric hospital admitting delays

Oregon appealed a contempt finding tied to its long-running failure to admit criminal defendants needing psychiatric treatment to the Oregon State Hospital within a court-ordered seven days. At the time of the contempt hearing, the average wait was 29 days, and fines have exceeded $4 million under a $500-per-class-member daily penalty.

The state argued to the Ninth Circuit that the lower court improperly relied on a neutral expert's report and later developments it never had a chance to rebut. Disability Rights Oregon countered that the state sat on its objections until the ruling was already in hand.

The hospital has been in compliance for three months, but the contempt will only be purged once the state hits an undefined benchmark of “substantial compliance.” The fines remain frozen in a court-controlled account pending the appeal's outcome.

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