Oklahoma's Attorney General Gentner Drummond is clashing once again with Governor Kevin Stitt, this time over a premature request concerning a pivotal lawsuit settlement. Drummond is urging Stitt to hold off on convening the state's Contingency Review Board until they reach a point in the legal process where such a review would be appropriate, as first reported by Oklahoma's Attorney General's Office.
Looming large over the dispute is the case of Briggs v. Friesen, in which the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services is accused of dragging its feet in providing court-ordered mental health services to pretrial defendants. Meanwhile, hundreds, as confirmed by the Oklahoma's Attorney General's Office, remain in jail, their constitutional rights to a swift trial hanging in the suspense. Federal Judge Gregory Frizzell has slated a hearing for January 15, 2025, to finalize the proposed consent decree that aims to resolve these issues.
However, Governor Stitt has called for a Tuesday Contingency Review Board meeting to review the settlement, despite significant opposition and warnings from Drummond. The attorney general is clearly flummoxed by Stitt's haste, as he expressed in an Oct. 7 email stating, "Your eagerness to reject this well-considered, judicious, and altogether appropriate consent decree is bewildering." This conflict marks the second time in three months Drummond has had to push back against Stitt's early call for Contingency Review Board intervention, as per the Oklahoma's Attorney General's Office.
The Contingency Review Board, chaired by Stitt and composed of other top state officials, is yet to review the decree that, according to Drummond's correspondence with Stitt, represents the "only feasible way to ensure justice while saving Oklahoma taxpayers untold millions of dollars." Suffering through delays, crime victims and their families wait as justice is postponed, alongside defendants. The attorney general assured, "I will promptly inform you when it is appropriate to convene the Contingency Review Board," signaling his commitment to due process, as reported by the Oklahoma's Attorney General's Office.
The consent decree in question, filed in June, proposes a strategic initiative to expedite Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services’ delivery of restoration services, thereby preventing the kind of systemic backlog that led to the lawsuit. As it stands, 244 individuals remain in custody waiting for vital mental health services, with some having waited more than two years, as revealed by Oklahoma's Attorney General's Office. The settlement, if enacted, promises to alleviate the department's existing deficiencies and establish a more just system for all stakeholders involved.
.jpg){kind=link}