Marion County judge says federal ruling on defendant care leaves counties scrambling

Marion County Circuit Court Judge Audrey J. Broyles expressed frustration this week with a federal court ruling that said she could not send a man she deemed a public safety risk to weekly outpatient treatment at the Oregon State Hospital until he is able to aid and assist his lawyer in his defense.

Broyles said U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman's order leaves counties scrambling to find services for defendants who need higher security psychiatric care than community restoration. She called Mosman's order “absurd” and "ridiculous," and said she would "not cower to the federal court."

"The only reason we are here is because of this ridiculous federal order that puts everyone in danger without any consequence or any consideration of public safety or victim rights," Broyles said Tuesday during a status hearing on the case.

Mosman ruled Broyles' ruling was in conflict with his order establishing strict timelines on how long defendants can receive care at the hospital. The defendant stayed at the Oregon State Hospital for 180 days, the maximum allowed under Mosman's order, before being discharged back to the custody of Marion County Sheriff’s Office. He is charged with attacking three Salem-Keizer Public School employees who have asked Broyles to not release him.

Mosman said earlier this month that Broyles’ order violates the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, which states federal law takes precedence over state law when the two conflict. The state hospital refused to accept the defendant for the weekly outpatient care and requested Mosman make an expedited order.

“The fact that these services are ordered by Judge Broyles to be provided on an outpatient basis does not change the calculation,” Mosman said in his order. “Indeed, if every county in Oregon adopted Judge Broyles’s approach, there would be no one left at OSH to provide inpatient services.”

Defense attorney Michelle Vlach-Ing asked that Broyles dismiss the case against her client. Prosecutors opposed the request and asked that he enter community restoration and stay in public housing with an ankle monitor and curfew.

Broyles denied both. She said she still believes he needs hospital-level care and will remain in jail without services other than daily medication until an agreement is reached.

“Nothing has changed since the last time we had this hearing,” Broyles said. “I still believe that the order that I made covers both the defendant’s need for restoration as well as considers public safety.”

Tensions between Marion County, federal court

Mosman also evoked the Supremacy Clause on Marion County Circuit Courts in September, ordering them to accept patients released from the state hospital who had reached the stay limits he established. In his order, Mosman said Marion County Circuit Court had been holding hearings resulting in orders prohibiting the release of defendants from the state psychiatric hospitals in Salem and Junction City.

Marion County immediately sued the Oregon Health Authority and Oregon State Hospital, saying the state has failed to fund, build and staff enough beds for individuals who need inpatient behavioral health restoration services. That case is pending.

What happens next?

Broyles encouraged Vlach-Ing to appeal her order denying dismissal of the case. If the appeal was heard by a state appellate court, it could rule that Broyles' initial order is constitutional with state statutes, Broyles said.

The judge said she will not abandon her initial order and try to find a "workaround" that appeases Mosman's ruling.

"This court cannot and will not abdicate its sworn responsibility for a work around a federal order that claims everything is a supremacy clause issue," she said.

The state hospital also made a request to the Oregon Supreme Court to determine whether Broyles' order is valid and lawful.

Sydney Wyatt covers healthcare inequities in the Mid-Willamette Valley for the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions, and tips to her at SWyatt@gannett.com, (503) 399-6613, or on Twitter @sydney_elise44

The Statesman Journal’s coverage of health care inequities is funded in part by the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, which seeks to strengthen the cultural, social, educational, and spiritual base of the Pacific Northwest through capacity-building investments in the nonprofit sector

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon judge frustrated by federal ruling on defendant care