People in psychiatric crisis need care from qualified clinicians, and restraint is not mental health treatment. Yet Josephine County and jail staff responded to a man’s severe mental health crisis by repeatedly locking him in a full-body restraint device known as “the Wrap,” sometimes for eight to 12 hours a day.
Sephiran Roberts — a man with bipolar I disorder with psychotic features — was a pretrial detainee at the Josephine County Jail from November 2024 until his transfer to the Oregon State Hospital in January 2025. He entered the jail in psychiatric crisis and, by a sergeant’s own account, spent roughly half or more of his first weeks in custody in a restraint chair or “the Wrap.”
Instead of providing the behavioral health care that Roberts had a right to receive, jail staff:
kept him restrained for hours at a time — including nearly 12.5 hours on a single day
made release depend on “cool, calm, collected” behavior that his symptoms made difficult to meet without treatment.
used Tasers, pepper spray, kicks, and punches, often when he was already handcuffed or restrained.
returned him to restraints without an adequate medical exam — even after his wrists developed open wounds and his hands became swollen
withheld meals, denied or cut short his attorney visits, and did not retain video footage of the conduct
People with disabilities must be given a real chance to access services, including the ability to speak with their lawyer, eat, and be assessed by a qualified professional. People with mental illness should not be punished for the symptoms of their illness.
This lawsuit against Josephine County and seven jail staff members seeks damages. Co-counsel in this case are attorneys from the Oregon Law Center.
