COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - Attorneys for mentally ill prison inmates and the state Department of Corrections began outlining their cases after the inmates filed suit against the state.
The inmates say they've been deprived of proper treatment and their constitutional rights.
Until Tuesday, attorneys for the Corrections Department had refused to comment on claims the agency has systematically failed inmates with mental health problems.
But in opening statements setting the tone for the next few weeks of this trial, the department denied a pattern of violating the inmates' rights.
"If this case could be summarized in just a single sentence I think it would have to be this: and that is the department's mental health system is not perfect and indeed no medical delivery service system is ever perfect," said attorney Ken Woodington, "but, it's a far cry from imposing cruel and unusual punishment on anyone."
The class action includes inmates and several advocacy groups. Their case will include graphic photos and video showing mentally ill inmates have been stripped naked, left in their own waste, pepper sprayed and subjected to other unacceptable practices.
"What we want is for the department to change the way it interfaces with people with serious mental illnesses," said Gloria Prevost. "Part of that I think can be done without money."
The Corrections Department disputes the claims, including one suggesting inadequate care for suicidal inmates.
"South Carolina so often is at the bottom of the list in education and other things you hear about all the time," said Woodington. "South Carolina is at the bottom of this list also, but that's a good thing. Because the lower you are on the list, the fewer suicides you have. South Carolina is number 41 in the nation."
Woodington compared South Carolina's handling of mentally ill inmates to cars.
"We have better than a Model T in the Department of Mental Health, in the Department of Corrections mental health system," said Woodington. "We have more like a Honda. What the plaintiffs want, however, is not just a Cadillac. It's more like a Lexus."
The state will argue the plaintiffs have some very high hurdles to clear in order to prove a systemic failure and constitutional violations in the end.
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