-Caveat Lector- ---------- Forwarded message----- ______________________________________________ NAMI E-News July 21, 1999 Vol. 00-12 ______________________________________________ FEDERAL ACTION ALERT ----------------------------------- WELLSTONE AMENDMENT WOULD EXEMPT PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS FROM THE PRISON LITIGATION REFORM ACT, NAMI ADVOCACY IS URGENTLY NEEDED Several years ago, Congress passed the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), a law that significantly limits legal protections for inmates in jails and prisons, including those who suffer from severe mental illnesses. We received news today that Senator Paul Wellstone (D. Minn.) has drafted legislation to exempt individuals with mental illnesses and children from the PLRA. Senator Wellstone is expected to offer this legislation as an Amendment to S. 1217, the Senate Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary Appropriations bill. The full Senate may take up S. 1217 as early as this evening or tomorrow morning. We request that you contact your two U.S. Senators ASAP and urge that they vote in favor of Senator Wellstone's Amendment to S. 1217. ACTION NEEDED Please contact your two U.S. Senators immediately and ask them to support Senator Wellstone's amendment to the Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations bill exempting children and individuals with mental illnesses from the Prison Litigation Reform Act. All members of Congress can be reached through the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Explain that inadequacies in the mental health treatment system have led to the confinement of large numbers of adults and juveniles with mental illnesses in American jails and prisons. These individuals are often provided little or no treatment in these facilities, and are frequently subjected to physical and sexual abuse, solitary confinement and other inhumane practices. Class action lawsuits have generally been the most effective tool for asserting the rights of these individuals to basic and humane treatment. Enactment of Senator Wellstone's Amendment to S. 1217 is crucial if these basic rights are to be protected. Reminder: S. 1217, the Commerce, Justice, State and the Judiciary Appropriations bill, is scheduled for action on the Senate floor as early as this evening, so time is of the essence! Thank you for your prompt attention. BACKGROUND The PLRA, enacted by Congress and signed into law in 1996, sharply curtails the legal rights and remedies available to jail and prison inmates, including those with mental illnesses. The PLRA contains many damaging provisions, including limitations on the scope and duration of consent decrees issued in cases involving constitutional violations of prisoners rights, extremely low caps on fees for special masters appointed by courts to administer consent decrees, and financial disincentives for attorneys to provide legal representation to jail and prison inmates. Many of the consent decrees in existence at the time the PLRA was enacted applied to the rights of adult and juvenile offenders with mental illnesses, including their right to psychiatric treatment. Thus, the law has proven particularly harmful to these individuals. Last week, Rep. Tom Delay, (R. Texas) sponsored an Amendment (H.R. 1501) to further limit the scope of the PLRA. Rep. Delay's Amendment required automatic termination of all consent decrees in effect on the date the PLRA was originally passed. His Amendment was enacted by the House of Representatives after only 10 minutes of floor debate, with no deliberations or hearings in Committee. The Delay Amendment, if enacted by the Senate and signed into law, will impose even greater limitations on the ability of prisoners with mental illnesses and juvenile offenders to use the courts to assert their rights to humane treatment and conditions of confinement. Senator Wellstone is offering his legislation to S. 1217 to counter the Delay Amendment. His legislation seeks to exempt children and individuals with mental illnesses from the damaging provisions of the PLRA. It would ensure that consent decrees protecting inmates with mental illnesses remain in place. ---------------------------------------------- Please forward this email if you know somebody who would like to add their name to this mail listing. 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