Sanbourne v. Bush

Sanbourne v. Bush, Case No. 89-6283-Civ-Nesbitt (S.D. Fla., J. Nesbitt), originally filed as Gonzalez v. Martinez; summary judgment denial reported at 756 F. Supp. 1533 (S.D. Fla. 1991). This was a class action involving the care and treatment of persons with mental illness confined to South Florida State Hospital (SFSH) and living in the South Florida community. The complaint alleged that the residents did not receive minimally adequate care at SFSH, and that the conditions at SFSH were physically and emotionally debilitating, causing the deterioration rather than the rehabilitation of the patients placed there. Specifically, individuals had a complete lack both of privacy and of control over the most basic and routine aspects of life, including routine group nakedness, a failure to provide personal clothing for patients, instead of ill-fitting, soiled "communal" clothing, inadequate dental care, and abusive staff.

The case originally settled in 1993, with the State agreeing to correct the deficiencies at SFSH and to seek funding to improve the mental health services available in the community. After several suspicious deaths at SFSH, motions for contempt were brought on medical and treatment issues. The final settlement approved in 1999 required defendants to hire an independent consultant/monitor for a period of six months, conduct independent reviews of deaths until February 28, 2000, and provide SLC with documents which permitted the monitoring of conditions at the institution. Co-counsel was Advocacy Center for Persons With Disabilities (now Disability Rights Florida).