Thursday, November 13, 2003

Lawyers argue over treatment

By GREGORY D. KESICH, Portland Press Herald Writer

A man who said he suffers from permanent mental disorders after spending most of his teenage years in the Maine Youth Center should not be able to sue his guards and their supervisors because his constitutional rights were not violated, a lawyer from the Maine Attorney General's office argued Wednesday.

Assistant Attorney General Diane Sleek asked a judge to throw out most of the claims made against current and former state employees by a man known in court documents as Michael T. He asserts that Youth Center officials failed to treat his mental illness, and instead made it much worse with excessive use of force, months in isolation and days tied down in restraints.

Sleek did not say the allegations were false, but argued that they are insufficient basis for a claim. While mental health treatment for incarcerated juveniles may be good public policy, she said, it is not a right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

"Even if the purpose (of the institution) is said to be treatment, that doesn't create a right to treatment," Sleek said. "There is no constitutional right."

Sleek's argument was made to Superior Court Justice Thomas Humphrey, who has been asked to rule on several motions that will determine what kind of case will go before a jury next year. Michael T.'s lawsuit names 14 defendants who range from the corrections officer who allegedly spit in his food to Commissioner of Corrections Martin Magnusson, who was ultimately in charge of the facility.

The case made news last month when pleadings filed by Michael T.'s lawyers quoted from internal Youth Center documents. According to the documents, top Youth Center officials, including Superintendent Lars Olsen, Deputy Superintendent Robert Lancaster and senior psychologist Barbara Heath, approved of excessive isolation, including a period as long as 87 days, and restraint for as long as 47 hours.

Following the revelations, Olsen, who is now superintendent of the Long Creek Youth Development Center, agreed to be reassigned while the governor's office conducts a review of current management practices.

Today, the Legislature's criminal justice committee will begin its own probe when it hears from youth advocates and disgruntled union members who are critical of Olsen and the other Long Creek managers. The legislative hearing begins at 9:30 a.m.

The legislators will hear very little about the lawsuit. Everyone involved, including Michael T., the defendants and all of their lawyers, are barred from talking about the case outside of the courtroom.

The issue of a right to treatment is at the center of the lawsuit, and would be one of the most difficult for Humphrey to decide, said Thomas Connolly, one of Michael T.'s lawyers, who argued against Sleek Wednesday. Connolly said the fact that the state claims it does not have to treat juveniles committed to its correctional facilities makes the suit necessary.

"They're saying in 2003 that our kids don't have a right to treatment," Connolly said. "We are here today because they don't get it."

One of the key pieces of evidence in Michael T.'s case are videotapes shot by Youth Center employees. Humphrey has sealed the tapes, but according to court documents they show teams of correctional workers tying Michael T. in restraints. The actions include strapping his hands and feet to a waist belt and, at other times, immobilizing him in a steel and nylon chair with Velcro straps.

The tapes show, Connolly said, a 13-year-old boy who is making jokes and not resisting, but is treated roughly anyway.

"He's not fighting them, he's not out of control. Every single one of those restraints was violent and unnecessary," Connolly said. "You see hundreds of intentional inflictions of pain on a little boy, and he's begging for help."

Sleek, however, said the tapes have little relevance.

"The videotapes have nothing to do with the incidents in the complaint, nothing (in them) seems to match the allegations," Sleek said.

Sleek also said that evidence of systemic abuse should not be used against the named defendants.

"This is a lawsuit against 14 individuals . . . What one individual does cannot be held against another," she said.

Humphrey said that he would rule on the motions later. The case is scheduled for trial in February.

Staff Writer Gregory D. Kesich can be contacted at 791-6336 or at: gkesich@pressherald.com

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