Justice Marden says, “Anything to do with my order I shouldn’t comment on publicly at all because this issue might come back before me.” But, philosophically, he observes: “Mental health issues in a confinement setting are a big unresolved social issue. It’s difficult for the prison to deal with it.”
Orlando Delogu, a professor at the University of Maine School of Law, says he has not heard of anything like this case before — the state’s refusal to follow a judge’s order: “It’s quite extraordinary.”
He thinks state officials may be “taking a page out of [President] Bush’s books — we only enforce the law that appeals to us.”
There are parallels, he suggests, between the state’s actions in the James case and the Bush administration’s denial of human rights to Al Qaida and Taliban prisoners at Guantánamo Bay detention camp in Cuba. He notes that federal courts have overruled the administration’s “violations of law” and “abuse of power.” Those courts include the Supreme Court.
So Delogu says the “logical next step” is for James’s attorneys to try to get the state cited for contempt of court.
On this point, Steinberger would only say he is “considering further legal action.”
Related:
Pressure rising, Punish the mentally ill!, Three years and counting, More 
- Pressure rising
Four months ago, a Phoenix investigative series revealed abuses of inmates at the “Supermax,” a 100-bed, solitary-confinement, maximum-security facility inside the Maine State Prison in Warren; since our articles were published, several important developments have taken place.
- Punish the mentally ill!
Officials in Maine attorney general Steven Rowe’s office recently made a legislative effort regarding mentally ill prisoners in a controversial way.
- Three years and counting
For the past three years, Portland Phoenix contributing writer Lance Tapley has been the only reporter in Maine to pay attention to the appalling conditions suffered by inmates in the Maine State Prison
- Mentally ill inmate gets care, despite state's objections
The guards “tortured me there,” he said, adding that he got “zero” mental-health treatment in prison.
- Putting an end to the hunger strike
Maine State Prison officials ended a hunger strike involving at least 10 inmates of the solitary-confinement Supermax unit in Warren by threatening to withhold the strikers’ psychotropic medications, according to allegations by an inmate who participated in the strike.
- Maine: state of deception
Surprise! When the 2008 fiscal year ended, on June 30, the state had a General Fund surplus of $56 million, so the shortfall in reality was considerably smaller than predicted — $134 million.
- Lawmakers to probe prison
For years controversy has churned over the Maine State Prison's treatment of both inmates and correctional officers. For the first time, legislators have taken action.
- Dangerous waits for psychiatric evaluations?
State officials admit delays for jail-inmate psychiatric evaluations have increased considerably.
- Reporter-turned-psychiatrist pans Virginia Tech coverage
A searing backlash followed NBC’s airing of videos made by Seung-Hui Cho, who last month killed 32 Virginia Tech students and then himself.
- Rise of psychosurgery
This article originally appeared in the March 11, 1972 issue of the Boston Phoenix.
- Sexual Politics
Duchovny, now 48 and with a nearly complete doctorate from Yale in English lit, says he is back in rehab for sex addiction.
- Less
Topics:
News Features
, U.S. Government, U.S. State Government, Orlando Delogu, More
, U.S. Government, U.S. State Government, Orlando Delogu, Brenda Harvey, Charles Dow, Helen Bailey, Disability Rights Center, University of Maine School of Law, Politics, Health and Fitness, Less
