CO Mental Health Advocacy Group Files Federal Case Against State for Housing & Intensive Services & Claims the Americans With Disabilities Act Trumps TABOR
Centennial, CO, April 15, 2016 (Newswire.com) - Orchid Mental Health Legal Advocacy of Colorado, Inc. ( www.orchidadvocacy.org ) has filed in Federal Court in the District of Colorado a Class Action Lawsuit demanding that Colorado comply with Federal Law and provide waitlists moving at a reasonable pace and reasonable plans to bring to scale to meet the need for housing and intensive treatment for people with serious mental illness in the State.
Further, the Legal Group alleges that Colorado cannot claim that TABOR, the so-called tax-payor bill of rights prevents it from complying, since Federal Law such as the Americans with Disabilities Act "Trumps" TABOR under the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution.
While the Legal Mental Health Advocacy Organization acknowledges that the legal principles may be "simple" and the implementation "complex," the organization charges bad faith on the part of the Hickenlooper Administration that has failed to engage in substantive discussions of the matters for over 15 months.
Additionally, the organization argues that root cause of the death of Michael Marshall, a homeless man with mental illness, in the Denver Detention Center was the result of the State's failure to provide supportive housing in sufficient quantity for people with mental illness in the State.
Source: Orchid Mental Health Legal Advocacy of Colorado, Inc.
