Mental Health Rights Project
How We Help:
Providing restorative treatment when unable to aid and assist in defense
Litigation
Photo of the west facade of the Oregon State Hospital in Salem. The Hospital is a wide red brick building capped with a white spire. Photo by Josh Partee.
In 2002, Disability Rights Oregon brought a landmark civil rights case against the state because people with mental illness were languishing in jail. The Ninth Circuit ruled that the state psychiatric hospital must accept within seven days people found to not have the mental capacity to stand trial because they are unable to help their attorney defend them in court—what is called "aid and assist."
In 2019, wait times in jail began climbing again and we returned to court to enforce the Court decision.
Advocacy Campaigns
Legislation
Banning the Use of Canines in Jail to Control Inmates
During the 2019 state legislative session, we successfully advocated for a statewide ban on the use of police canines in jail (SB 495).
Photo of an American flag blowing in the wind outside of a courthouse with columns. Photo by Bonnie Kittle.
Reform the Aid and Assist Process
Disability Rights Oregon continues to pursue legislation that increases the use of community-based options and decreases the use of institutionalization for defendants who need mental health services to restore their competency to aid and assist in their defense.
Media Coverage
Success Stories
Decriminalize
Mental Illness
Disability Rights Oregon’s Mental Health Rights Project works to end the criminalization of mental illness, promote independence and community living for people with mental health conditions, and improve conditions in Oregon jails and prisons for people in mental health crisis.
Learn more about how our communities criminalize mental illness.
