Courts: Treatment Delays For Defendants and a Bad Day for Dale

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After a judge ruled that he was mentally incapable of standing trial, Adam Anderson, 46, spent another nine months in Columbus County Jail before he was admitted to a state psychiatric hospital for treatment.

Anderson’s experience isn’t the exception; it’s the rule, according to a federal lawsuit that the ACLU of North Carolina Legal Foundation, Disability Rights North Carolina, and law firm Arnold & Porter filed on April 18. Defendants wait an average of 68 days to get an assessment of whether they are mentally capable of standing trial, the lawsuit said. And in some cases, a judge rules that the initial assessment is insufficient and orders a second one, leading to further delays.

Defendants who are found to be unable to proceed to trial languish for five to six months before they can get committed to a state psychiatric hospital. North Carolina has three state psychiatric hospitals—Central Regional, Broughton Hospital, and Cherry Hospital. The number of beds at those hospitals decreased 51 percent between 2016 and 2023, causing wait times to spike.

That has led to a crisis, the lawsuit alleges. County jails are ill-equipped to provide adequate mental-health services, and the lack of such services has resulted in increased numbers of in-custody deaths, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit also alleges that the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has done little to combat the problem.

The state agency said in a statement that state psychiatric hospitals are short-staffed, resulting in long waitlists. It noted that a pilot program at the Mecklenburg County Jail provides a program to help defendants become mentally able to stand trial, and the agency is working to provide more community-based behavioral-health services.

“Prioritizing the behavioral health needs of individuals awaiting trial will not only resolve the legal charges of detainees but will strengthen the legal and mental health systems of North Carolina,” the agency said in a statement.

— Michael Hewlett

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Folwell Loses at 4th Circuit

On Monday, the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that state health care plans–including North Carolina’s–must cover gender-affirming procedures.

Judge Roger Gregory wrote in the majority opinion that such coverage exclusions “facially discriminate on the basis of sex and gender identity, and are not substantially related to an important government interest.”

Washington Post, NC Newsline, and WRAL all have in-depth stories on the implications of the decision, which advocates for transgender health care cheered.

“I am pleased with this powerful court victory not only for myself but for all other state employees who have been discriminated against across North Carolina,” Julia McKeown, an associate professor at N.C. State University and a lead plaintiff in the case, said in a statement. “I’m relieved the court found this discrimination unlawful, and hope North Carolina officials will finally stop their wasteful fight to deny us our rights and will now stand on the side of equality.”

It was a loss for State Treasurer Dale Folwell, who was among the defendants. His office issued a statement saying it hoped the U.S. Supreme Court would take it up and repeated their argument that denying coverage of gender-affirming care is a matter of “fiscal sustainability.”

“Protecting the Plan for our current and future members has always been what this case has been about,” Folwell said. “Untethered to the reality of the Plan’s fiscal situation, the majority opinion opens the way for any dissatisfied individual to override the Plan’s reasoned and responsible decisions and drive the Plan towards collapse.”

—Kate Sheppard

New Chief Judge In Town

Seven weeks after Mecklenburg County chief district court judge Elizabeth Trosch reeled off a list of problems with the new multi-million dollar eCourts system at a North Carolina Courts Commission meeting, she got a call from Chief Justice Paul Newby.

Newby told Trosch during that April 22 conversation that he planned to move her out of the chief district judge post she’d held for the last four years, and as she recounted “go in a new direction.” In her place, Newby appointed Judge Roy Wiggins, who will become Mecklenburg’s new chief district judge this Wednesday.

It’s not clear to Trosch what prompted the shift. Newby has not publicly explained his reasoning, and a spokesperson for the state Administrative Office of the Courts did not respond to The Assembly‘s request for comment. Newby is a Republican. Both Trosch and Wiggins are Democrats.

Wiggins told The Assembly in a phone interview that when Newby reached out to gauge his interest in taking on the leadership position, the chief justice didn’t elaborate on what the new direction would be.

Wiggins praised Trosch for her leadership and for helping him navigate his new duties. “She showed excellent leadership skills,” Wiggins said.

Chief district court judges set case calendars and make policies for their division. Many have direct involvement with the hiring of case managers and other district court staff. In Mecklenburg, the chief district court judge is responsible for supervising magistrates, seeing that complaints are investigated, and taking disciplinary action against magistrates when necessary. The job also comes with a small salary boost.

Trosch is not the first judge Newby has demoted from the chief level. In January he pushed Donna Stroud out of the top state Court of Appeals position. In 2021, he moved Debra Sasser, a Democrat, from the Wake County chief district post and tapped Republican Ned Mangum for the job.

In a statement Trosch shared last week with Mecklenburg County media that reported Newby’s decision, she noted her leadership role in decreasing the pandemic backlog of cases and helping shepherd the county through the eCourts transition, the “greatest transformation of courts in our generation.”

“The chief justice and his leadership have said that their mission is to equip districts across the state with the resources necessary to administer justice without favor, denial or delay,” Trosch said in a phone interview with The Assembly. “Through the pandemic, through our backlog reduction efforts and especially through the launch of eCourts, he and his leadership have shown they’re serious about their commitment.”

The transition from a paper- to a cloud-based filing system in courthouses across the state is a project that Newby inherited after becoming chief justice the first day of 2021. In 2019, the state Administrative Office of the Courts awarded a $100 million eCourts contract to Texas-based Tyler Technologies.

Problems with the phased eCourts rollout have prompted a federal lawsuit and calls for a pause while administrators and Tyler work out the kinks before introducing it to more counties. The North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys also pleaded for a pause several weeks ago.

Wiggins said he knows he takes over amid questions about the change in leadership. “Change is always difficult,” Wiggins said. “I am very competent to lead Mecklenburg County district court.”

—Anne Blythe

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Sheriffs Demand Action

The sheriffs of Mecklenburg and Durham counties joined Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action, and Democratic lawmakers last week lobbying for more gun safety laws.

It’s become an annual exercise for state Rep. Marcia Morey, a Durham Democrat and former district court judge, to introduce proposed legislation that would require safe storage of guns and create a red flag law that allows temporary removal of firearms from people in mental health crises.

Rae Rackley, a Duke freshman, told reporters at a press conference that she was tired of the familiar “thoughts and prayers” refrain after school shootings. She volunteered with Students Demand Action after a 2021 school shooting near her high school left one person dead.

“Students are sick of being forced to live in a world shaped by the cowardice of politicians who are endangering us every day,” Rackley said. “Don’t forget it’s election year so if our politicians don’t listen to us, they’ll be wishing for thoughts and prayers come election day.”

Typically, proposed gun bills from Democrats get parked in a committee in the Republican-led General Assembly where they die without ever coming up for debate. Morey said she plans to l try using a discharge petition procedure to get it out of committee to the House floor this year.

Durham County Sheriff Clarence Birkhead lamented the epidemic of gun violence and said lawmakers need to “step up” or “get out of the way.”

“The message is not new, but it is clear,” Birkhead said. “Too many young people are becoming victimized. Too many lives are being shattered at the end of a gun every single day.””

Mecklenburg Sheriff Garry McFadden said he remembers every mother that he’s had to inform about their child’s death “because they still call me on the anniversaries, on the birthdays, on the day of their children’s death.”

He recalled the 2019 mass shooting at UNC-Charlotte that left two students dead. “I felt helpless–still feel helpless,” he said. “I wrote the family and said, ‘There’s nothing I can say. There’s nothing I can do. You’re supposed to send your child to the school for safety and an education, and we send him back in a box.’”

McFadden said he was not against Second Amendment rights – he’d even previously worked security for the NRA. “We’re not talking about taking away your ownership of the gun,” McFadden added. “We’re talking about safe ownership, responsible ownership, safe storage. That’s not asking for too much.”

—Anne Blythe

Have any suggestions for improving this newsletter or stories we should look into? Email us at courts@theassemblync.com.