*The following post was sent to the My Oregon blog server at Oregonlive.com in response to several comments posted with the news item of Multnomah Country’s settlement in the James Chasse civil case.

by Michael Hopcroft, Board Member, Mental Health Association of Portland

The anonymity of the Internet is a wonderful thing under some circumstances. It allows you to interact in ways you could not interact otherwise. Nobody has to know if you have a disability, or are writing about something that could get you into trouble were you not anonymous.

On the other hand, on the Internet nobody knows you’re a jerk – or, at the very least, your faux pas can’t be traced back to you.

Last week, Multnomah County reached a settlement with the family of James Chasse of their lawsuit over his death at the hands of Portland police. The settlement was for more than $900,000. And with the news story, Oregonlive offered a comment opportunity. And that was when a lot of people crawled out from under their rocks and started spewing hate.

People called the settlement a waste of money. People said the police should have carte blanche in dealing with subjects. People said the family should not have been allowed to sue. People said that the family should repay society for the costs associated with James Chasse ever having been alive. It was that last bit that was especially galling – the idea of “wrongful life” when mental illness is involved.

Let’s get some facts straight here. Chasse suffered fatal injuries that were ignored until it was too late to save him. His crime was being in the wrong place and allegedly urinating in public – something everybody has done at one time or another. The police and paramedics showed an alarming degree of ignorance and indifference towards the injuries they had inflicted, intentionally or not. And as a result James Chasse died a beastly, horrible death.

As far as the settlement being a waste of money – how much more money would the country have ended up having to pay, both in legal fees and in the final judgment, fighting a case where their losing was a virtual certainty? Compared to that outlay, the settlement was a bargain for the county. And as a partial result of the Chasse case, an assessment and treatment center for people in crisis is on the drawing board where none had been in place for close to ten years.

Should the family have been allowed to sue? Definitely. The civil system exists to provide a means for the redress of grievances, and the Chasse family had one of the most legitimate grievances imaginable. Monetary compensation is no substitute for this incident never happening, but it is a means by which entities that display negligence are reminded “Don’t do this again! You need to change your approach!” It is a lesson that the county needed to learn, and by settling the case instead of fighting a losing battle the county has shown they are willing to learn that lesson.

Where did these people come from who said those ignorant, awful things? We have no way of knowing. They have their anonymity behind which to hide. It could be anyone I meet on the streets of Portland, or someone who’s never even set foot in Multnomah County. There’s no way to know. It’s enough to know that these attitudes are out there – that there are people who believe a hideously painful death is the proper punishment for urinating on the sidewalk, or who believe that mental illness itself should carry the death sentence. It is a disturbing sort of knowledge, but a lesson that we need to remember. Ignorance and hate are still parts of our society, no matter how well we educate ourselves.

And that is one of the unkindest cuts of all.

Editorial column by Steve Duin from The Oregonian, June 30 2009

Help me with this:

How does Multnomah County conclude it is liable for $925,000 in collective damages in the death of James Chasse without establishing 10 cents of individual blame?

Doesn’t the county’s decision to settle with the family guarantee that no one on the county payroll will be held accountable for his death?

And is it possible this settlement — almost five times larger than any in county history — was negotiated because the powers that be want to avoid the civil trial that might finally affix specific culpability in this case?

In the 33 months since Chasse died with 16 broken ribs and massive internal bleeding after being tackled by Portland police in the Pearl District, then kicked by officers in the head and chest according to witnesses, I can find no evidence that anyone has been fired, fined, suspended, sanctioned or, heck, even scolded, for the treatment the 42-year-old schizophrenic received in the last two hours of his life.

“To see a person essentially beaten to death for urinating on a tree is beyond senseless. There’s something really wrong,” said Don Moore, board head of the Multnomah County chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness in 2006 when Chasse died.

Yet the various custodians of the public trust have gone out of their way to ensure that while everyone shares in the tragedy — including the taxpayers who will pay the settlement — no one will ever be saddled with responsibility for it.

District Attorney Mike Schrunk never held an inquest into Chasse’s death. A Multnomah County grand jury found no criminal wrongdoing.

Portland Police Chief Rosie Sizer has yet to issue her conclusions on the internal affairs investigation; she labeled the interminable wait for those conclusions “disappointing” nine months ago. The bureau did, however, hire Bret Barton, the Multnomah County sheriff’s deputy who had joined two Portland cops in chasing Chasse down.

And while former Mayor Tom Potter mandated crisis intervention training — the value of which is derided by the police union mouthpieces — after Chasse’s death, the police still don’t define blows to the head as a use of deadly force.

When I asked county attorney Agnes Sowle about settling a case in which no individual fault is established, she reminded me that the county often makes business decisions that focus on the best interest of the taxpayers, not the culpability of county employees.

Two weeks ago, she noted, the county went to trial in a case involving an uncooperative inductee at the detention center: “A jury awarded $8,500 for a bump on the head for a guy who’d been arrested and was not being helpful about getting out of the car.”

All too often, in other words, the county needs to cut its losses, not establish blame. When I asked whether taxpayers weren’t better served, in the long run, by a trial that finally set the record straight, Sowle sighed and said she wished she still had my romantic notions about justice and the law.

Moore and the police agree there’s a crisis among the mentally ill and you don’t want the cops to be the de-facto entry point to the county’s overmatched mental health services.

That’s not much of a consensus to build on. It may be that so many people screwed up here — the cops, the ambulance drivers, the jailhouse crew and Chasse himself — that assigning blame is futile.

But in the absence of that exercise, no one is motivated to change. It’s a painfully short jump from “not my fault” to “not my problem,” and the county’s $925,000 payout just encouraged a lot of folks to take the plunge.

From the Los Angeles Times, June 24 2009

Despite a promise to Michelle, the president still hasn’t kicked the habit, he says at his news conference. But he’s ‘95% cured,’ he says, and doesn’t smoke in front of the children.

It may not be as big as “read my lips,” but it’s shaping up as a notable broken campaign promise: Barack Obama’s pledge to his wife that he would quit smoking if she let him run for president.

More than two years later, he’s still sneaking cigarettes like a middle-schooler. The model of self-discipline who can zap a fly with the accuracy of a tree frog and sink a three-pointer with Kobe-like grace can’t beat his most public vice.

“I constantly struggle with it. Have I fallen off the wagon sometimes? Yes. Am I a daily smoker, a constant smoker? No. I don’t do it in front of my kids, I don’t do it in front of my family, and I would say that I am 95% cured, but there are times where . . . I mess up,” President Obama confessed when asked at his news conference Tuesday if he’s still puffing away.

The usually playful president got peevish when McClatchy’s Margaret Talev asked him how many cigarettes he smokes daily and whether he does it in front of anyone. (The White House has managed to avoid any photos of the offending behavior.)

“You just think it’s neat to ask me about my smoking, as opposed to it being relevant to my new law,” Obama said, undercutting his questioner’s attempt to legitimize journalistic nosiness by invoking the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act he signed Monday.

Obama’s failure to disclose details only piqued curiosity. What’s his brand? Who is his supplier? Where does he go to do it? Out back in the organic garden? Behind a bush on the South Lawn? Perhaps this explains his eagerness to take the late shift for Bo’s daily constitutional.

His staff isn’t talking. “I don’t honestly see the need to get a whole lot more specific than the fact that it’s a continuing struggle,” Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said this week.

But what were the odds that Obama could give up a 30-year habit — even if it was only about five a day — right before assuming the hardest job in the world?

“Highly improbable,” said Ovide Pomerleau, a professor of psychiatry and a nicotine addiction expert at the University of Michigan. He noted that the president’s struggle appears to fit a pattern. “It doesn’t surprise me, given his heroic schedule of activities, that he would have some trouble giving up something that has been an easy crutch to carry him through for so many years.”

Even light smokers like Obama get a dependable hit that improves the memory and sharpens concentration, however briefly, Pomerleau said, which could prove irresistible during Iranian revolutions and North Korean missile launches.

Obama might have meant it when he promised his wife, Michelle, to kick the habit way back when nobody thought he’d win anyway.

On Tuesday, Obama likened the quest to Alcoholics Anonymous. “Once you’ve gone down this path, then it’s something you continually struggle with, which is precisely why the legislation we signed was so important, because what we don’t want is kids going down that path in the first place. OK?”

EXTRA – The Oregon Health Plan provides coverage for nicotine gum, nicotine patches, medication, group and individual counseling.

OUR COMMENT – Smoking-related diseases claim an estimated 430,700 American lives each year. Smoking costs the United States approximately $97.2 billion each year in health-care costs and lost productivity. It is directly responsible for 87 percent of lung cancer cases and causes most cases of emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

From the Corvallis Gazette-Times, June 26 2009

The Oregon House has passed a bill intended to help police officers deal with people whose conduct may be caused by mental or medical problems.

Rep. Andy Olson, R-Albany, had pushed for the bill since 2007 and is one of its principal sponsors. The bill now goes to the Senate, where it’s uncertain if action can occur before the legislative session ends.

House Bill 3466 would create a voluntary statewide database of people with mental health and medical issues. It would give officers information helpful when they’re responding to some calls.

For example, Olson said Wednesday, police might respond to a call that a man had eaten a restaurant meal but had no money to pay. Technically, he could be arrested for theft. But if the officer learns he’s on a database for mental illness or dementia, police could just call relatives to come pick him up and take care of the bill.

Capt. Eric Carter of the Albany police said knowing of a person’s mental-health issues is useful to officers responding to a call. “It does change the way law enforcement officers deal with them,” he said.

With known chronic cases, he said, the Albany police have had some success by calling in mental health workers rather than taking people to jail.

In a statement, Olson recalled that three years ago Marion County Sheriff Raul Ramirez told the Interim Judiciary Committee that county jails were the largest facility in the state for holding people suffering from mental health issues.

“HB 3466 addresses this problem by giving law enforcement the ability to help individuals without automatically incarcerating them,” Olson said,

The database would be maintained by the Oregon State Police as part of the Law Enforcement Data System.

EXTRA – all about HB 3466 from the fantastic bill-tracking database from The Oregonian.

OUR COMMENT – This bill is a violation of the fourth, fifth, ninth and fourteenth amendment of the US constitution.

Ann Kasper asks how the Multnomah County civil commitment system can be improved. Includes interviews with Mike Hlebechuck, Jean Dentinger, Linda O’Malia and Connie Isgro.

Four documents pertaining to housing rights and due process within supportive housing communities, also called Residential Treatment Facilities and Residential Treatment Homes, have appeared on the Multnomah County Department of Human Services, Mental Health and Addictions Services Division web site, but as usual, they’re buried.


We don’t know when these documents might disappear, so we’ll post them permanently on our secure server.

In light of what happened to Sean Liam Kelly, who after making multiple complaints about his threatening neighbor was murdered in the front yard of his home, EVERYONE who lives in Cascadia housing should ACT QUICKLY and COMPLAIN to authorities coutside of Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare if they feel their rights are being violated by staff members or by neighbors.

These documents, linked and listed below, could save your life.

Residential Treatment Facility – residential rights
Grievances and Appeals – Residential Treatment Facility Rule (OAR 309-035-0157)
Grievances and Appeals – Residential Treatment Home Rule (OAR 309-035-0390)
Multnomah Mental Health Crisis Poster (updated for accuracy by MHAP)
Residential Treatment Facility ‘Bill of Rights’ from OAR 309-035-0155

Listen, words pinned to the community room cork board are fine. But if you’ve been measurably hurt while living in a residential treatment facility or residential treatment home, write to the Mental Health Association of Portland by mail at POB 3641, Portland, Oregon 97208 or by email at info@mentalhealthportland.org, and we’ll help you get a lawyer.

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Residential Treatment Facility – residential rights (OAR 309-035-0155)

(1) Statutory and Constitutional Rights. Each resident will be assured the same civil and human rights accorded to other citizens. These rights will be assured unless expressly limited by a court in the case of a resident who has been adjudicated incompetent and not restored to legal capacity. The rights described in paragraphs (2) and (3) of this section are in addition to, and do not limit, all other statutory and constitutional rights which are afforded to all citizens including, but not limited to, the right to vote, marry, have or not have children, own and dispose property, enter into contracts and execute documents.

(2) Rights of service recipients. In accordance with ORS 430.210, residents will have the right to:

(a) Choose from available services those which are appropriate, consistent with the plan developed in accordance with paragraphs (b) and (c) of this subsection, and provided in a setting and under conditions that are least restrictive to the person’s liberty, that are least intrusive to the person and that provide for the greatest degree of independence;
(b) An individualized written service plan, services based upon that plan and periodic review and reassessment of service needs;
(c) Ongoing participation in planning services in a manner appropriate to the person’s capabilities, including the right to participate in the development and periodic revision of the plan described in paragraph (b) of this subsection, and the right to be provided with reasonable explanation of all service considerations;
(d) Not receive services without informed consent except in a medical emergency or as otherwise permitted by law;
(e) Not participate in experimentation without informed voluntary written consent;
(f) Receive medication only for the person’s individual clinical needs;
(g) Not be involuntarily terminated or transferred from services without prior notice, notification of available sources of necessary continued services and exercise of a grievance procedure;
(h) A humane service environment that affords reasonable protection from harm and affords reasonable privacy;
(i) Be free from abuse or neglect and to report any incident of abuse without being subject to retaliation;
(j) Religious freedom;
(k) Not be required to perform labor, except personal housekeeping duties, without reasonable and lawful compensation;
(l) Visit with family members, friends, advocates and legal and medical professionals;
(m) Exercise all rights set forth in ORS 426.385 and 427.031 if the individual is committed to the Department;
(n) Be informed at the start of services and periodically thereafter of the rights guaranteed by this section and the procedure for reporting abuse, and to have these rights and procedures prominently posted in a location readily accessible to the person and made available to the person’s guardian and any representative designated by the person;
(o) Assert grievances with respect to infringement of the rights described in this section, including the right to have such grievances considered in a fair, timely and impartial grievance procedure;
(p) Have access to and communicate privately with any public or private rights protection program or rights advocate; and
(q) Exercise all rights described in this section without any form of reprisal or punishment.

(3) Additional Rights in Residential RTFs. Residents will also have a right to:

(a) Adequate food, shelter, clothing, consistent with OAR-309-035-0159 [0165?];
(b) A reasonable accommodation if, due to their disability, the housing and services are not sufficiently accessible;
(c) Confidential communication, including receiving and opening personal mail, private visits with family members and other guests, and access to a telephone with privacy for making and receiving telephone calls;
(d) Express sexuality in a socially appropriate and consensual manner;
(e) Access to community resources including recreation, religious services, agency services, employment and day programs, unless such access is legally restricted;
(f) Be free from seclusion and restraint,
(g) To review the Residential Treatment Facility’s policies and procedures; and
(h) Not participate in research without informed voluntary written consent.

(4) Program Requirements. The program will have and implement written policies and procedures that protect residents’ rights, and encourage and assist residents to understand and exercise their rights. The program will post a listing of residents’ rights under these rules in a place readily accessible to all residents and visitors.

resident name:____________________ signature:__________________________

review date: ______________ staff name __________________________

Original to Resident+1 copy to chart and check off on intake information recap

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Grievances and Appeals – Residential Treatment Facility Rule (OAR 309-035-0157)

The Residential Treatment Facility will have a written policy and procedures concerning the resident grievance and appeal process. A copy of the grievance and appeal process will be posted in a place readily accessible to residents. A copy of the grievance and appeal process will be provided to each resident and guardian (as applicable) at the time of admission to the facility.

All complaints will be investigated

To ask questions call to your local Community Mental Health Program at (503) 998-5464 (open Monday through Friday, roughly 9 to 5 PM)
Or the statewide office of Disability Rights Oregon at 1-800-452-1694 (open Monday through Friday, roughly 9 to 5 PM)

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Grievances and Appeals – Residential Treatment Home Rule (OAR 309-035-0390)

The Residential Treatment Homewill have a written policy and procedures concerning the resident grievance and appeal process. A copy of the grievance and appeal process will be posted in a place readily accessible to residents. A copy of the grievance and appeal process will be provided to each resident and guardian (as applicable) at the time of admission to the Residential Treatment Home.

All complaints will be investigated

To ask questions call to your local Community Mental Health Program at (503) 998-5464 (open Monday through Friday, roughly 9 to 5 PM)
Or the statewide office of Disability Rights Oregon at 1-800-452-1694 (open Monday through Friday, roughly 9 to 5 PM)

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The Residential Bill of Rights

As a resident of a licensed residential treatment facility, you have certain rights outlined in Oregon State law. These laws are known as Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR) and Oregon Revised Statute (ORS). Your rights as a resident are listed below.

OAR 309-035-0155

(1) Statutory and Constitutional Rights. Each resident will be assured the same civil and human rights accorded to other citizens. These rights will be assured unless expressly limited by a court in the case of a resident who has been adjudicated incompetent and not restored to legal capacity. The rights described in paragraphs (2) and (3) of this section are in addition to, and do not limit, all other statutory and constitutional rights which are afforded to all citizens including, but not limited to, the right to vote, marry, have or not have children, own and dispose property, enter into contracts and execute documents.

(2) Rights of service recipients. In accordance with ORS 430.210, residents will have the right to:

(a)Choose from available services those which are appropriate, consistent with the plan developed in accordance with paragraphs (b) and (c) of this subsection, and provided in a setting and under conditions that are least restrictive to the person’s liberty, that are least intrusive to the person and that provided for the greatest degree of independence;
(b)An individualized written service plan, services based upon that plan and periodic review and reassessment of service needs;
(c)Ongoing participation in planning services in a manner appropriate to the person’s capabilities, including the right to participate in the development and periodic revision of the plan described in paragraph (b) of this subsection, and the right to be provided with a reasonable explanation of all service considerations;
(d)Not receive services without informed consent except in a medical emergency or as otherwise permitted by law;
(e)Not participate in experimentation without informed voluntary written consent;
(f)Receive medication only for the person’s individual clinical needs;
(g)Not be involuntarily terminated or transferred from services without prior notice, notification of available sources of necessary continued services and exercise of a grievance procedure;
(h)A humane service environment that affords reasonable protection from harm and affords reasonable privacy;
(i)Be free from abuse or neglect and to report any incident of abuse without being subject to retaliation;
(j)Religious freedom;
(k)Not be required to perform labor, except personal housekeeping duties, without reasonable and lawful compensation;
(l)Visit with family members, friends, advocates and legal and medical professionals;
(m)Exercise all rights set forth in ORS 426.385 and 427.031 if the individual is committed to the Department;
(n)Be informed at the start of services and periodically thereafter of the rights guaranteed by this section of the procedure for reporting abuse, and to have these rights and procedures prominently posted in a location readily accessible to the person and made available to the person’s guardian and any representative designated by the person;
(o)Assert grievances with respect to infringement of the rights described in this section, including the right to have such grievances considered in a fair, timely and impartial grievance procedure;
(p)Have access to and communicate privately with any public or private rights protection program or rights advocate; and
(q)Exercise all rights described in this section without any form of reprisal or punishment.

(3)Additional Rights in Residential Treatment Facilities. Residents will also have a right to:

(a)Adequate food, shelter, clothing, consistent with OAR 309-035-0159;
(b)A reasonable accommodation if, due to their disability, the housing and services are not sufficiently accessible;
(c)Confidential communication, including receiving and opening personal mail, private visits with family members and other guests, and access to a phone with privacy for making and receiving telephone calls;
(d)Express sexuality in a socially appropriate and consensual manner;
(e)Access to community resources including recreation, religious services, agency services, employment, and day programs, unless such access is legally restricted;
(f)Be free from seclusion and restraint, accept as outlined in OAR 309-035-0167.
(g)To review the Residential Treatment Facility’s policies and procedures; and
(h)Not participate in research without informed voluntary written consent.

(4) Program Requirements. The program will have and implement written policies and procedures, which protect residents’ rights and encourage and assist residents to understand and exercise their rights. The program will post a listing of residents’ rights under these rules in a place readily accessible to all residents and visitors.

Stat. Auth: ORS 409.010 & ORS 44.3450
Stat. Implemented: ORS 443.400 to ORS 443.455 & ORS 443.991(2)

Signature of Resident: _____________________________________
Signature of Staff Person: __________________________________
Date Resident Rights were explained: ____________
Original to resident – photocopy in resident chart

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EXTRA – What happened to Sean Liam Kelly
EXTRA – Obituary site created by Kelly’s family

Opinion editorial from Anna Griffin of The Oregonian, June 26 2009


At long last, someone has made a smart decision in the case of poor James Chasse. Not surprisingly, it’s Ted Wheeler.


Chasse, a schizophrenic man, was behaving oddly and possibly urinating on a tree when police spotted him on Sept. 17, 2006.


Two Portland officers and a Multnomah County deputy approached Chasse figuring they were dealing with a drunk or a drug addict. He ran. As Pearl District diners and shoppers looked on, police chased Chasse and knocked him to the sidewalk. He screamed and fought to break free. Officers used physical force — their fists, feet and finally a Taser — to subdue him.

Paramedics at the scene said Chasse’s vital signs were normal, so officers tied his feet to his hands and took him to the Multnomah County Detention Center. A jail nurse evaluated Chasse’s condition through a cell window. She watched him twitch for a few seconds, told officers he needed medical care and walked away. He died in the back seat of a patrol car on the way to Portland Adventist, less than two hours after his encounter with police.

Chasse’s family filed a federal lawsuit against the city, the county, the ambulance company, the police chief, the mayor, the officers, paramedics and jail staff. The lawsuit, since split into separate cases against the officers involved and the government agencies, alleges that Chasse’s civil rights were violated, and that pretty much everyone who could screw up did.

Activists for the poor and mentally ill have accused police of beating Chasse to death, then covering up their use of excessive force. Police, in turn, say they’ve been vilified for a tragic accident.

We may never really know precisely what happened, which particular version of events is closest to the truth or which particular bad decision caused his death.

Which is why Wheeler’s decision this week to ask his Multnomah County Board of Commissioners to settle its part of the suit for close to $1 million feels both wise and compassionate.

I know, I know. Chasse may not have been an entirely innocent victim. Officers approached because he appeared to be urinating in public. He ran from them and resisted arrest with surprising force, scratching and biting. A grand jury found no reason to charge anyone involved in chasing Chasse down with a crime. The state medical examiner ruled his death accidental, the natural result of a 245-pound man crashing down on top of a 145-pound one.

Settling the lawsuit is a good business decision. A trial of this magnitude — involving expert witnesses, conflicting eyewitness testimony and outside lawyers — could cost taxpayers more than the $925,000 settlement even if the county were to win.

Settling is also the right thing to do because, on a broader level, we all share blame for Chasse’s death.

The city and county systems for handling mentally ill people have improved since Chasse’s death. The Portland Police Bureau now trains officers about how to deal with mentally ill people and tightened rules about when they can use force. County leaders changed booking procedures at the jail and are close to construction of a $3 million mental health assessment and treatment center. Still, the county’s mental health programs and the city’s affordable housing efforts both remain woefully understaffed, underfunded and underappreciated.

Wheeler’s decision to settle is a nod to the vast amount of work left to be done. And, even if he doesn’t intend it that way, next week’s county vote on the deal is a reminder to everyone else in this lawsuit that the money being devoted to legal wrangling would be better used fixing a system still undeniably broken.

From The Oregonian, June 26 2009

Multnomah County is poised to pay its largest legal settlement, $925,000, to end its part in the federal civil rights lawsuit brought two and a half years ago by the family of James P. Chasse Jr.

Multnomah County Chairman Ted Wheeler said the settlement, which commissioners will vote on Thursday, followed substantial negotiations.

The county and Chasse’s family, Wheeler said, agree that the county needs to move beyond the legal issues and focus on improving mental health care.

“Second, we live in a litigious society, and you never know what’s going to happen,” Wheeler said Friday. “Our attorneys have advised us this agreement is in the best interests of the taxpayers.”

Portland attorney Tom Steenson said Chasse’s family would have no comment until after the commission’s vote.

Wheeler scheduled the vote as the county discusses pressing forward with a 16-bed mental health crisis treatment center in Portland. The Portland Development Commission has set aside $2 million to redevelop the David P. Hooper Center as the county’s new mental health triage center. The city and county have pledged to split the $3 million operating costs.

“I want the community to understand that as we pay out a settlement from the James Chasse case,” Wheeler said, “the county learns from its mistakes and makes good on its commitment to the public to strengthen its delivery of mental health care.”

Chasse, 42, who suffered from schizophrenia, was chased by officers who said he appeared to be urinating in the Pearl District on Sept. 17, 2006. The officers knocked him to the ground and struggled to handcuff him. He suffered broken ribs, some of which punctured his left lung, early in his encounter with the Portland officers and a sheriff’s deputy. Ambulance paramedics who responded said Chasse’s vital signs were normal, and police drove him to the Multnomah County Detention Center.

He appeared to suffer a seizure in a holding cell and lost consciousness. A jail nurse looked through the cell door window and told police the jail would not book Chasse. Portland police placed him in a patrol car, where he died on the way to a hospital. The cause of death: broad-based blunt force trauma to his chest.

The settlement would remove from the lawsuit the county and its employees, including then-sheriff’s Deputy Bret Burton, who was involved in the initial struggle with Chasse, and jail nurses, who are accused of failing to examine or treat Chasse or call an ambulance.

The city of Portland and American Medical Response Inc. remain defendants in what legal observers say has become a complex, extremely expensive suit to defend.

Settlement negotiations began in February under the guidance of Magistrate Thomas M. Coffin, records show.

Once a settlement conference was scheduled in February 2009, there was little activity until U.S. District Judge Garr M. King ruled June 3 on each party’s motions to dismiss the case, largely saying there was enough issue of fact to proceed to trial.

“It doesn’t surprise me that they settled it right after the judge’s ruling,” said Jeffrey Batchelor, a civil litigation lawyer who spends 90 percent of his time mediating lawsuits. “In civil cases, the defendant, having lost that, loses the bargaining chip.”

Mediators also often urge parties to consider economics, he said. “To do a case of this complexity right, the county and the city are going to have to spend a lot of money,” Batchelor said.

The county hired medical experts and two private lawyers to assist. The trial, set for March 16, 2010, has been tentatively scheduled to last 12 days.

Parties weigh the likelihood they could lose and the cost of going to trial. If the Chasse family won in the county case, then the county would have to cover the family’s attorneys fees.

“The advantage obviously to the county is that it’s done. It’s not going to face any further liability,” Batchelor said.

And the county cuts off liability from other defendants, meaning other parties to the case can’t sue the county.

The settlement could pressure the city of Portland to settle as well. It also could allow the city to shift blame to the absent party at trial, the county jail nursing staff, for the lack of medical care provided to Chasse.

Deputy City Attorney James Rice declined to comment.

County Attorney Agnes Sowle also declined to comment, saying only that the settlement is the county’s largest. The next largest, she said, was a $200,000 payment in 2004 to the parents of a jail inmate who died after medical staff gave him an overdose of methadone instead of his prescribed painkiller.

Jason Renaud, a friend of Chasse’s and a volunteer with the Mental Health Association of Portland, praised Wheeler for recognizing the importance of a crisis treatment center, what he called the “key missing ingredient in the continuum of mental health care.”

Wheeler said he’s hesitant to estimate when the center will open, but county records suggest 2011.

Wheeled pointed to reforms already made: mandatory crisis intervention training for law enforcement; guidelines that require police to share with paramedics and jail nurses the amount of force used during an arrest; new policies that restrict when officers can place a sick or injured person in a patrol car and that require jail staff to assess an inmate’s condition and determine whether an ambulance should be called; changes in Portland’s use of force policy; and restrictions on foot chases.

“If there’s any silver lining to this tragedy,” Wheeler said, “it’s that there has already been demonstrable change in how law enforcement works with others in the mental health community.”

From KATU June 26 2009

From the Portland Mercury, June 25 2009

Multnomah County will vote next week on whether to settle its portion of the James Chasse lawsuit for $925,000. As far as the Mercury can tell, that’s a record high settlement in Portland for an excessive force/death in custody suit: The city paid $600,000 to the family of Damon Lowery in 2005 (he died in 1999 of asphyxiation by 6 cans of pepper spray and being stood on by a cop), and it paid $845,000 in an excessive force settlement to a collective of anti-Bush protesters in 2004.

The proposed settlement only covers Chasse’s treatment at the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC), where he was taken by Portland Police Bureau officers Christopher Humphreys and Kyle Nice after his beating in September 2006. The city and American Medical Response are yet to settle their portions of the case, covering the conduct of police officers and the ambulance company respectively.

Chasse was left in a holding cell at MCDC prior to booking, with a “spit sock” over his head. A jail nurse, Patricia Gayman, refused to admit Chasse to the main jail after looking through his holding cell window. She also failed to provide emergency medical care, the family alleged. Video of Chasse’s jail booking, on which he can be heard screaming, and can be seen hog-tied, is here:

Chasse was subsequently taken to Adventist hospital across the Willamette River in a patrol car driven by Humphreys and Nice, but he died en-route. The state medical examiner found 26 rib fractures and that Chasse had died from “blunt force trauma to the chest.” Multnomah County is also responsible for the behavior of former sheriff’s deputy Bret Burton, who also beat Chasse on the sidewalk, and has since been hired by the Portland Police Bureau.

“The family of James Philip Chasse will have no comment until after the county board of commissioners votes on the matter next Thursday, July 2, 2009,” said the Chasse family’s attorney, Tom Steenson.

“I’m not surprised the county is looking to settle,” says Jason Renaud of the Mental Health Association of Portland. “The case looked very strong against them. I expect the city and the other parties to the case to settle quickly, in light of this latest development.”

It’s thought that the city attorney’s office is facing considerable pressure from the Portland Police Association not to admit any wrongdoing on behalf of Portland Police Officers in the case. The Police Bureau instituted new training for police officers after Chasse’s death.

Meanwhile, County Chair Ted Wheeler has released a statement on the proposed settlement. “It is personally important to me that we demonstrate that Jim Chasse’s death serves as a continuing reminder to us of the need to substantially improve the way the community responds to mental illness and build systems of support that can sustain recovery,” wrote Wheeler, who now wants to move forward with the construction of a mental health crisis center.

EXTRA – What happened to James Chasse (up to about September 2008)
EXTRA – More about what happened to James Chasse
EXTRA – $925,000 settlement offered in death of James Chasse, KGW.com
EXTRA – Multnomah County board considering settlement in Chasse death, Oregonian, June 26
READ – Statement of County Chair Ted Wheeler on Chasse settlement, June 25

Statement from Multnomah County Director of Human Services Joanne Fuller on the Chasse settlement

Today Ted Wheeler, Chair of the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners released the attached statement regarding the settlement of the lawsuit that arose from the death of James Chasse and important improvements in the mental health system. I wanted to share this statement with you and thank you for your continued work with DCHS on improving the mental health system.

James Chasse’s death was such a tragedy. It serves as a reminder that we need to create the best supports and treatment possible for people recovering from serious mental illness. His death also served as the catalyst for increased interest in and investment in the mental health system in our community. That work continues today.

The discussions that followed James Chasse’s death identified many mental health system gaps. We are continuing to address those gaps.

The Local Public Safety Coordinating Council created a mental health and public safety sub-committee which has been meeting monthly to increase communication and problem solving among mental health advocates, public safety officials and mental health service providers. This group created the Multnomah County Mental Health Treatment Court where individuals who are identified as mentally ill and in need of treatment are encouraged to seek treatment in conjunction with fulfilling their court requirements.

The county and the State of Oregon provided funding for Oregon Health Sciences University to open The Avel Gordley Center for Healing, a unique place for culturally specific mental health services for the African American community. In addition to the Gordley Center, the county funds culturally specific mental health services for the Asian, Latino, Native American, and Slavic communities. We will continue to work with advocates from these communities and mental health providers to increase the effectiveness of mental health services for people from all cultures.

The biggest gap in our mental health system has been the need for an alternative to hospitalization and jail for individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. Too often people struggling with a serious mental health crisis are taken to jail or to a hospital emergency room when they could be better served in a less restrictive, supportive and welcoming setting. Next week, the Board of County Commissioners will take a step toward the creation of a new sixteen bed mental health crisis treatment and assessment center. They will consider a resolution to remodel the Hooper detoxification center to use the site for these mental health crisis services.

Everyday in our community people struggle to recover from serious mental illness. All of us must continue to work together to make sure that they get the support, treatment and opportunity for a healthy and thriving life.

Statement from Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler, June 25 2009

On Thursday July 2nd, the Multnomah County Board will be voting on a settlement in the Jim Chasse case, and considering the next steps in creating the long overdue mental health assessment and treatment center.

The Board meeting begins at 9:30, the mental health assessment and treatment center resolution is scheduled for 9:35, and the settlement of the Chasse case is scheduled for around 10:05. The meeting will take place at 501 SE Hawthorne.

The tragic death of Jim Chasse has forced everybody in the community to take a hard look at the ways we try and sometimes fail to help our neighbors who face the challenge of mental illness. From community discussions in the aftermath of Jim Chasse’s death, important reforms have been identified and implemented and larger changes are in process. It is personally important to me that we demonstrate that Jim Chasse’s death serves as a continuing reminder to us of the need to substantially improve the way the community responds to mental illness and build systems of support that can sustain recovery. Recovery must be our goal.

Multnomah County’s settlement of the lawsuit arising from Jim Chasse’s death will end our participation in legal proceedings but it in no way ends our efforts to follow through with reforms advanced in the wake of the tragedy. The big problems in the global economy and the financial collapse of our largest local mental health provider have slowed our progress toward a new mental health crisis center, but we are still moving forward.

In 2006, after I was elected County Chair but before I took office, I co-chaired the Task Force on Mental Health and Public Safety organized by Mayor Potter. Working closely with Senator Avel Gordley, we listened to the community, consulted diverse stakeholders and developed an action list of changes that were needed to get better outcomes for people with mental illness and the public safety professionals that protect our community.

Improved training of public safety staff regarding mental health issues was a top priority and that has been in place for more than two years now. Guidelines on the use of force by law enforcement have been revised. Booking procedures at the jail have changed. Mental health professionals have increased their collaboration with law enforcement officers.

We all agree that there are too many people with mental illness in jail. Since 2007, we have been working to open a new facility where trained staff can assess and treat people with mental illness who come into contact with police officers. The center would provide a continuum of support that would help bolster recovery, find and maintain housing and offer the kinds of services that would allow people with mental illness to move toward independence.

I still cannot predict the date that the mental health treatment and assessment center will open its doors, but I am confident we will get there. The financial collapse of Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare in 2008 was a temporary set-back. The severe budget cuts we faced this year meant that we could only put a million dollars towards moving the project forward, but we do have a plan.

Central City Concern is remodeling the old Ramada hotel and will move their detox facility to that new site. The current detox site will be remodeled to serve as the mental health crisis center. Much of the funding is in place and we will move aggressively to complete the project.

Next week the Board of County Commissioners will consider a resolution on the development of the mental health assessment and treatment center. This discussion will take place at the same meeting that we consider the settlement of the lawsuit arising from Jim Chasse’s death. It is important that we reach closure on this tragedy, but we must also remember the lessons we have learned and redouble our efforts to prevent future tragedies.

READ – Statement from Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler on Chasse settlement, June 25 2009

From the Portland Mercury, June 24 2009

A New Group for People Who Hear Voices Celebrates Mental Illness Diversity

An average-looking, middle-aged man stood in the public meeting room of the downtown Multnomah County Library, asking a question. He was having trouble distinguishing “dream from reality,” and he wondered why he should bother to do so when the information he is given turns out to be verifiable and useful. (Once, he was instructed to overturn an empty cup left in a phone booth—and when he did, he happily discovered someone else’s forgotten pocket money left underneath.) A woman then stood and spoke of the series of spiritual transformations she has gone through, mentioning that her Catholic phase was initiated by a vision she had of the Virgin Mary. (“Why else would you become a Catholic?” she cracked.) Another younger man admitted that he has embraced the “spirituality of nothingness” after finding that meditation only exacerbated the noisy mind from which he hoped to find relief.

They were all attendees of the first-ever gathering held by Portland Hearing Voices, a new group that has formed to address the spectrum of circumstances surrounding the experience of hearing voices, seeing visions, and holding extraordinary beliefs. If the language sounds deliberate, consider that commonly accepted words like “crazy” and “deluded” are steadily developing the dark shroud of epithet among those who are beginning to recognize that our society’s understanding of mental diversity is, at the very least, oversimplified.

Mad Pride

Most people, even many of those working within the mental health system, are only dimly aware of the issues being raised by groups like Portland Hearing Voices (PHV). Nonetheless, the questioning of traditional approaches to experiences that are usually associated with schizophrenia has become quite common, particularly in the UK. (PHV’s kickoff event featured a screening of the hour-long BBC documentary Hearing Voices, produced as early as 1995.) While the Portland group is among the first of its kind in the United States, intervoiceonline.org, an international network and online community for voice hearers, estimates that there are over 170 Hearing Voices groups in England alone.

The New York-based Icarus Project is an example of the growing “Mad Pride” movement, which, according to its mission statement, “envisions a new culture and language that resonates with our actual experiences of ‘mental illness’ rather than trying to fit our lives into a conventional framework.” Through online forums, a database of resources, the co-sponsorship of a weekly radio program (Madness Radio, madnessradio.net), and publications such as the Harm Reduction Guide to Coming off Psychiatric Drugs, the international network’s bustling activities indicate growing interest in the cause.

The Portland group’s initial goals are simple: to provide a safe, comfortable place for people to talk about their experiences, be they negative or positive, diagnosis identified or not, or medicated or not. It also seeks to re-educate a public that not only tends to associate voice hearers with a higher potential for violence, but also habitually treats these people by snuffing their irregularities into silence with potent medication.

The New School

Nutritional analysis, detoxification, and stress and lifestyle management are just some of the alternatives and supplements to pharmaceuticals that have successfully provided relief. PHV hopes to connect practitioners in these fields with potential clients who might be anxious to seek them. It’s important to note, however, that Hearing Voices groups, the Icarus Project, the Mad Pride movement in general are not focused on pushing people to reject medication—the aim is to illuminate the existence of alternate means of coping and provide honest information on all available resources.

Dr. Krista Tricarico, of Portland’s Open Mind Medicine, is one such resource. A naturopathic physician who specializes in mental health and has experience with clients who hear voices or otherwise go through non-ordinary states of consciousness, she explains, “In conventional psychiatry, someone who hears voices would likely be diagnosed with schizophrenia. Based on this diagnosis, an individual will be prescribed a medication or a variety of medications in hopes of suppressing the voices. These drugs have difficult side effects, many requiring additional drugs to manage, and often disrupt a person’s sense of self. Hearing voices may be a sign of an imbalance in the brain, but simply suppressing the voices does not necessarily improve the health of the individual.”

Good Voices

Anusuya StarBear (who changed her surname at the behest of the voice she hears) says she first remembers hearing the voice of what she believes to be her great grandmother—a Cherokee woman she never knew—when she was less than a year old. Lying in her crib, lit by the moon, the voice told her, “You are the light,” after which she had an out-of-body experience. The episode began recurring.

A therapist herself, with a unique blend of training that incorporates Native American practices and artwork therapy, StarBear has been visited periodically by the same voice throughout her life. At around four years of age, as she passed an optometrist’s office on the street, the voice matter-of-factly informed her that she would need glasses in a few years. When she walked into a lecture hall and first glanced the back of the head of the man who she would later marry and have kids with, the voice chimed in, “That is the father of your children.”

StarBear has trusted her voice to the extent of changing her name despite reservations over what people would think, including a fear that it might cost her clients (it did not). Even more profound was when she battled cancer and trusted her voice’s insistence that she refuse an operation, against her doctors’ strident recommendation—and the cancer went away, without the procedure.

“I never thought for a moment that I was mentally ill, or that it was a bad or a dangerous thing,” says StarBear of the voice, which she always consults before making important decisions. “Always that [the voice] was a spiritual teacher. When I hear it I don’t always like what it says, but always feel the truth of it.”

Bad Voices

While the idea of a wise, insightful voice or altered state of consciousness can sometimes seem appealing (ever experiment with psychedelics?), it’s important to realize that for many people, it is a source of grave torment. It’s also not the purpose of PHV to recast negative experiences in such a way as to assume that everyone would be just fine with their voices if they simply weaned themselves off medication and took up herbal tinctures and yoga instead.

Many people’s stories are as nightmarish as they are bizarre. The following are excerpts of stories shared by PHV attendees who wished to remain anonymous:

I was lying off the edge of my bed, and looking to the window. For hours I stared in a trance as the trees gently moved from the wind. I felt as if my tongue was as thick as a strand of my hair, and vice versa. I can’t fully describe how frightening and horrible of a feeling that was, but it would occur from time to time when everything around me would be silent.

I started hearing voices—a new symptom for me. They were God and Jesus’ voices, tormenting me. They informed me that I had crossed a barrier that should have been impossible to cross, and therefore had corrupted the perfection and order of the universe. Also, God told me that I brought venereal disease into heaven, and that it was spreading…. There was a great deal of blasphemous content in my thoughts, which made me very fearful and paranoid. The voices finally drove me to two more suicide attempts, stating that this was how I could correct the harm I had done.

It’s essential to PHV’s purpose to include and recognize the legitimacy of the full spectrum of voice hearing, with respect for the individual choices made to address it. PHV’s founder, Will Hall, has undergone a personal journey marked by horrific events of his own, beginning with voices and fearful out-of-body experiences since childhood.

Over the course of his life, Hall has been subjected to destructive side effects caused by prescribed medication (from mania to weight gain to the aggravation of his suicidal urges), isolated and confined against his wishes in public psychiatric wards, and shuttled through a system that treated him as a problem that needed to be controlled rather than a person in need of help. For a time during the mid-’90s, he was homeless, living in a tent in Forest Park after being kicked out of the then-sketchy Ben Stark Hotel (now the Ace Hotel) when he ran out of money. “I once got into trouble with the manager there because I was crying so loud in my room nonstop it was disturbing the tenants,” he remembers. “Those were scary days.”

Moving Forward

The Will Hall of recent years has become something of a celebrity in Mad Pride circles. He was recently profiled in a Newsweek article about the Icarus Project, with which he has been involved in various capacities, including as a frequent interviewer on Madness Radio, and as the author of the Harm Reduction Guide to Coming off Psychiatric Drugs—both projects are collaborations between Icarus and the Freedom Center, another support group in Massachusetts co-founded by Hall.

In addition to his activism, Hall is now an avid practitioner of meditation and yoga (he started yoga after one of his voices, in a rare helpful moment during the bad years, told him if he didn’t begin practicing yoga he was going to die). With the guidance of a herbologist, he is learning from his “very strong relationship to plants, including sage, nettle, yerba santa, and eleuthero.” Along with StarBear, Hall is currently studying at the Process Work Institute in Portland, a nonprofit institute teaching process-oriented psychology. He attributes the progressiveness of this institution as the primary reason for his return to the area.

“When I was growing up, I wanted to be a magician,” remembers Hall. “Then I wanted to be a biologist, then I wanted to be a psychologist, then I wanted to be a community organizer, then I wanted to be a philosopher. Now I’m sort of all of them.”

Ann Kasper interviews Connie Isgro, a pro tem judge for the Multnomah County circuit court’s civil commitment court.

From The Oregonian, June 23 2009

Panhandling – A homeless woman beats Portland’s ordinance to clear sidewalks

A Multnomah County judge ruled Monday that Portland’s sidewalk law is unconstitutional because it gives police the power to ticket people for simply sitting on the edge of the sidewalk.

Multnomah County Circuit Judge Stephen Bushong noted that the sit-lie ordinance was found unconstitutional by the Oregon Court of Appeals in 2005 and, although the city made changes, it is still unconstitutional. He also noted the ordinance conflicts with state law, which trumps city law.

The ordinance prohibits people from sitting or lying on the sidewalk between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. It also bars people from putting their possessions on the sidewalk unless they stay within 2 feet of the belongings.

Bushong noted that state lawmakers created a law — disorderly conduct — that cities can use to crack down on undesirable behavior on sidewalks, such as blocking passers-by with the intention of annoying or inconveniencing them.

At issue in Monday’s case was Katherine Perkins, a 31-year-old homeless panhandler who was ticketed in August 2008 for sitting on a downtown sidewalk. Bushong threw out the ticket in his ruling.

Bushong’s decision is timely: The sit-lie law, also known as the sidewalk obstructions ordinance, is scheduled to expire in October, and city commissioners have been debating whether to renew it.

City commissioners voted 4-1 in May to extend the law for five months.

Clayton Lance, Perkins’ attorney, said the law targets homeless people because the city is worried about the impact homeless people have on business and tourism and, ultimately, the city’s tax collections. Lance, who took on Perkins’ case pro bono, celebrated Bushong’s ruling.

“When will they start to listen — that’s the $10,000 question,” said Lance, who believes city commissioners have little choice but to let the ordinance expire. “I think this ordinance is dead. They can tweak it all day long, and that won’t make it constitutional. It does not pass the smell test.”

When told about the ruling, Commissioner Randy Leonard said: “The one I voted against?”

Leonard said he opposed it because he thought it was unconstitutional.

“Once again, I’m affirmed,” he joked.

Deputy City Attorney Ellen Osoinach could not be reached for comment on whether the city intends to appeal.

EXTRA – Judge Rules Sit/Lie Law Unconstitutional, Portland Mercury, February 19 2009
EXTRA – Tempers flare over ’sit-lie’ ordinance – Homeless people and advocates rail against a plan to extend the ban, Oregonian, April 30 2009
EXTRA – Homeless Liberation Front, managed a month long demonstration at City Hall in 2008
EXTRA – Sit/Lie Dead: Chief Sizer Suspends Enforcement, Portland Mercury June 26 2009

OUR COMMENT – Many, if not most, of the persons targeted by the Portland Police for citations under the city’s unconstitutional sit / lie ordinance are persons with mental illness or who are acutely affected by drugs or alcohol. All officers have received specialized training and are informed of options they can take to intervene with these people instead of arresting them or writing citations they cannot pay. They choose the lazy, and now twice judged illegal, practice of dunning the homeless. Pathetic.