After more than a decade of legal battles and federal intervention, Mississippi may have emerged victorious in resisting the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) efforts to overhaul its mental health system. In a recent ruling, a federal appeals court declared that a district judge had erred in concluding that Mississippi’s mental health system violated the civil rights of adults with serious mental illnesses and in imposing a remedial order mandating the expansion of various services, including crisis response and supported housing.
The DOJ initiated legal action against Mississippi in 2016, alleging that the state’s failure to provide accessible mental health services in communities had resulted in repeated involuntary commitments to state hospitals for individuals in need of treatment. U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves ruled in favor of the DOJ in 2019 and, in 2021, approved the remedial order while appointing a monitor to oversee the state’s compliance.
However, a conservative three-judge panel at the United States 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed these decisions. The panel contended that the DOJ’s assertion that adults with serious mental illness in Mississippi were “at risk” of institutionalization did not sufficiently establish discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Judge Edith Jones, writing for the panel, stated, “The possibility that some un-named individual with serious mental illness or all such people in Mississippi could be unjustifiably institutionalized in the future does not give rise to a cognizable claim under Title II [of the Americans with Disabilities Act]. Nor does such a vague and standardless theory license courts under the ADA to rework an entire state’s mental health system.”
Wendy Bailey, the executive director of the Department of Mental Health, responded to the ruling by reaffirming the agency’s commitment to expanding community services and reducing hospitalizations. She noted that over the past decade, the department had redirected legislative funding from state hospitals to community mental health centers, which are designed to offer a range of services, including therapy, medication, and crisis stabilization units. The department intends to utilize federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to continue this expansion, with all funds set to be allocated by the end of 2026. Bailey also pledged continued transparency by sharing data on the new services, as required by the remedial order.
