I’ve never had to hire a
lawyer, so this is new territory.
Last
year, when my “mentally ill” brother was arrested in Tulsa, I created a
notebook when I started calling attorneys. After almost a year of getting
leads, recommendations, searching the www, and now into my second notebook (the
first one got full!), we’ve yet to secure an attorney that can help my brother.
We’ve spoken to the best and the most
expensive private attorneys, Legal Aid, Oklahoma Disability Law Center (*), etc. Currently hot ‘n heavy chasing the ACLU, because law firms that know
anything about mental health in Oklahoma tell us we need the ACLU. So, we are hoping they’ll take a look
at Jeff’s case, as we are circling the wagons, trying to get their attention.
It’s a compelling case, with evidence - and not just from the 111 days he was held in
solitary confinement in David L. Moss Tulsa County Jail last year (prior to
being deemed incompetent and taken
to Oklahoma Forensic Center (OFC) in Vinita. (*)
(Vinita…that’s another blog for another day.) Horrendous solitude – without even
being allowed a book to read, because somehow books can be dangerous (?!) and
rarely seeing the light of day. More on that in a later blog. (*)
Jeff
is 48 yrs old. He’s been in
Oklahoma’s Mental Health “system” for 29 years, and has only gotten worse and
more expensive over the years, to put it bluntly. In a state that’s fiscally broke,
you’d think someone would want to do a cost-benefit analysis, take the records
(medical, fiscal, psychiatric, housing, the list goes on) and HELP the STATE of
OKLAHOMA. But no.
