Rights group, state reach settlement in competency lawsuit
By MARTHA BELLISLE, Associated Press
Published: August 17, 2018, 8:26pm
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SEATTLE — The state of Washington has agreed to a plan to resolve a lawsuit filed on behalf of mentally ill people who’ve been warehoused in jails for weeks or months while awaiting competency services.
A settlement reached Thursday between Disability Rights Washington and the Department of Social and Health Services is designed to bring the state into compliance with a judge’s 2015 ruling that said the state was violating the rights of its most vulnerable citizens.
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