Court control over Maine Psychiatric Hospital

Maine Superior Court Chief Justice Nancy D. Mills, as part of a ruling that could lead to court control over the state mental health system, has decided to take immediate control over the state psychiatric hospital to force compliance with a 13-year-old consent decree. The so-called AMHI consent decree was signed by state officials in 1990 to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by patients at the hospital over deteriorating conditions at AMHI following the deaths of several patients. In May, Mills concluded after a seven-week trial that the state had failed to prove it had met the terms of a majority of the consent decree's requirements. In her order, Mills granted broad powers to the receiver who has yet to be appointed. Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Daniel Wathen, appointed to oversee the consent decree, issued a request this week for proposals from those who want to be considered for the receiver's post. The judge ordered him to nominate a candidate by Oct. 10. Meanwhile the labor unions involved are making positive, hopeful sounds in their press releases while waiting nervously to see what happens.