Oregon Prisoner’s “Release” from Mental Hospital to Prison Reversed
Oregon Prisoner’s “Release” from Mental Hospital to Prison Reversed
The Oregon Court of Appeals reversed an order conditionally releasing a hospitalized mentally ill prisoner to prison.
In 2010, Robert Erskine was found guilty except for insanity of burglary. He was committed to the Oregon State Hospital (OSH), under the jurisdiction of the Psychiatric Security Review Board (PSRB).
Or. Rev. Stat. §161.341(1) authorizes the OSH superintendent to request PSRB to conditionally discharge any committed person who is believed to be “no longer affected by a mental disease or defect, or, if so affected, no longer presents a substantial danger to others.” Alternatively, the statute allows for the conditional release of a person, if he or she “can be controlled with proper care, medication, supervision and treatment.” A conditional release application “must be accompanied by a verified conditional release plan.”
In 2011, OSH applied for a PSRB hearing pursuant to Or. Rev. Stat. §161.341(1), seeking the conditional release of Erskine from OSH to the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC). Erskine opposed his conditional release, claiming that OSH did not submit a conditional release plan.
After a hearing, the PSRB found that Erskine “was affected by a mental disease or defect and, without adequate supervision and treatment, would continue to present a substantial danger to others.” It also found, however, that he “could be adequately controlled and treated in the community if he were conditionally released” to ODOC. As a result, the PSRB ordered Erskine to “reside in the secure custody of the [ODOC] and participate in a treatment program coordinate by the [ODOC].”
The PSRB conceded on appeal that Or. Rev. Stat. §161.341(1) required that it receive and consider a conditional release plan before the hearing. “Because the hospital failed to submit the plan, ‘petitioner did not have an opportunity to challenge it,’” the PSRB admitted. “The board ‘should not have granted conditional release.’”
The Oregon Court of Appeals reversed the conditional release order based on statutory requirements that the hospital failed to adhere to and the PSRB’s concession. See: Erskine v. Psychiatric Sec. Review Bd., 304 P.3d 50 (Or. Ct. App. 2013).
Related legal case
Erskine v. Psychiatric Sec. Review Bd.
| Year | 2013 |
|---|---|
| Cite | 304 P.3d 50 (Or. Ct. App. 2013) |
| Level | State Court of Appeals |