Bass v. Parkwood Hosp.

• Decision Date: 01 July 1999
• Docket Number: No. 97-60446,97-60446
• Citation: 180 F.3d 234
• Parties: Myron BASS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. PARKWOOD HOSPITAL, Parkwood Hospital/Staff; Desoto County, MS; Subbulaxmi Rayudu, Dr.; Victoria Sheets, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 234

180 F.3d 234

Myron BASS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. PARKWOOD HOSPITAL, Parkwood Hospital/Staff; Desoto County,

MS; Subbulaxmi Rayudu, Dr.; Victoria Sheets,

Defendants-Appellees.

No. 97-60446.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

July 1, 1999.

Myron Bass, West Memphis, AR, pro se.

James Talleyrand McColgan, III, Smith, Sabbatini & McLeary, PLLC, Memphis, TN, for Parkwood Hosp., Rayudu and Sheets.

Gary K. Smith, Smith, Sabbatini & McLeary, Memphis, TN, for Parkwood Hosp. and Rayudu.

Robert Porter Chamberlin, Hernando, MS, for Desoto Cty., MS.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi.

Before GARWOOD, DUHE and BENAVIDES, Circuit Judges.

GARWOOD, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiff-appellant Myron Bass (Bass) appeals the district court's order revoking his in forma pauperis status and dismissing with prejudice his complaint, which asserted purported claims related to his involuntary civil commitment at Parkwood Hospital (Parkwood or the hospital) in Mississippi. We affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand.

BACKGROUND

The Mississippi Code regulates the involuntary commitment of persons to mental health institutions within Mississippi. See Miss.Code Ann. §§ 41-21-61 to -107 (1993 & Supp.1998). The comprehensive regulatory scheme safeguards the rights of persons subjected to involuntary commitment procedures. See Chill v. Mississippi Hosp. Reimbursement Comm'n, 429 So.2d 574, 578 (Miss.1983) ("Without doubt the State of Mississippi ... has vested rights in the mentally ill substantially in excess of those minimum protections required by the federal constitution."). The regulations govern commitment to private as well as public institutions operating within the State. See Lee v. Alexander, 607 So.2d 30 (Miss.1992).

To initiate civil commitment proceedings, any "interested person" may file an affidavit with the clerk of the state chancery court. Section 41-21-65. This affidavit must contain specific factual descriptions of the behavior of the proposed patient (or proposed respondent), and must be supported by observations of named witnesses. "Affidavits shall be stated in behavioral terms and shall not contain judgmental or conclusory statements." Id. Section 41-21-79 provides that if the respondent is found by the court not to be in need of medical treatment, the costs of the proceedings, including prehearing hospitalization costs, shall be taxed to the affiant. Section 41-21-79.

If the affidavit is sufficient, ¹ the clerk, upon the chancellor's direction, will issue a writ directing the county sheriff to bring the respondent before "said clerk or chancellor, who shall order pre-evaluation screening and treatment by the appropriate community mental health center ... and for examination as set forth in Section 41-21-69." Section 41-21-67(1). "Upon issuance of the writ" the chancellor is directed to appoint two reputable physicians (or one physician and one psychologist) to examine the respondent. Section 41-21-67(2). The clerk is directed to ascertain whether the respondent has an attorney, and if not, the chancellor is directed to "appoint an attorney for the respondent at the time the examiners are appointed." Section 41-21-67(3). If the chancellor finds probable cause to believe that the defendant is mentally ill and no reasonable alternative exists to detention, then the chancellor may order that the respondent be detained as an emergency patient pending an admission hearing. Section 41-21-67(4).

Within twenty-four hours after the order for examination, the respondent must be given an examination. Within the same twenty-four-hour period, the physicians must have completed the examination and filed reports and certificates with the court, reporting on their findings as to the respondent's mental and physical health and opining whether the respondent should be committed. Section 41-21-69(2). ² At the beginning of the examination, the respondent is entitled to be told of the purpose of the examination, his right to refuse to answer any questions, and his right to have an attorney present. Section 41-21-69(3).

If the examiners certify that the respondent is not in need of treatment, the chancellor or clerk "shall" dismiss the affidavit. Section 41-21-71. This language arguably removes any discretion from the chancery court to continue commitment procedures or otherwise detain the respondent without the recommendation of the appointed physicians.

Allegations of Bass which are either uncontroverted or are supported by summary judgment-type evidence indicate that several of these procedural safeguards were not followed with respect to his eight-day confinement at Parkwood, as outlined below. ³ On Monday, April 22, 1996, Bass decided to seek mental health counseling for "job related stress." Bass, a resident of West Memphis, Arkansas, discovered Parkwood through his telephone directory. Parkwood, located in DeSoto County, Mississippi, is a private hospital and is not associated with either the County or the State.

Bass contacted Parkwood and spoke briefly with defendant-appellee Case Management Associate Victoria Sheets (Sheets), who invited Bass to come to Parkwood for counseling. Satisfied that Parkwood would be both confidential and affordable to him, Bass agreed, and drove approximately thirty miles from his home to Parkwood. Bass intended to receive outpatient treatment and return home that evening.

Bass arrived at approximately 1:00 p.m. Sheets interviewed Bass upon his arrival. Sheets reported that during the interview, Bass claimed to have been hearing voices and that he planned to poison his co-workers at a pot-luck dinner. Sheets arranged for a psychologist, Russel Reynolds, Ph.D. (Dr. Reynolds), not a defendant herein, to evaluate Bass. Dr. Reynolds also reported that Bass revealed hallucinations and plans to kill his co-workers. Bass denies having made any of these statements, and states that he answered "NO!" when asked if he were carrying a weapon.

Parkwood thereafter determined that Bass should be detained, and proceeded to the chancery court to initiate commitment procedures. Sheets signed an affidavit stating "Pt [patient] is very psychotic and paranoid. He is hearing voices telling him to harm people and is thinking about killing coworkers with cyanide at a pot luck supper. Thinks government is out to get him." ⁴

Meanwhile, two plainclothes DeSoto County sheriff's deputies (not named as defendants) approached Bass and identified themselves as officers from the DeSoto County Sheriff's Office. The officers told Bass that he would be staying in the hospital overnight. When Bass protested that he wanted to leave, the officers told Bass that he was not free to do so. At some time before 2:15 p.m., Bass was taken to "the quiet room," where he stayed overnight. Bass alleges that the doors were locked behind him.

At 3:00 p.m., a special master of the chancery court of Mississippi's Third Judicial Court District issued a Writ to Take Custody [of Bass] for Mental Examination or Retention (Writ). The Writ commanded the Sheriff of DeSoto County to "immediately take RESPONDENT into your custody and transport him/her to be assessed for pre-evaluation screening at the Region II Mental Health Center and if recommended, for examination for commitment according to law by those appointed and named on the attached Appointment of Physician/Psychologist." A notation at the top of the Writ states: "ATTENTION DEPUTY SHERIFF: Please serve the attached copy on Myron Bass who is presently located at Parkwood Hospital. You should then leave him/her at Parkwood."

No document appointing a physician appears to have been attached to the Writ. No attorney was ever appointed for Bass, despite Bass's request for an attorney during his first day at Parkwood.

Bass asked to speak to a doctor, but was not permitted to do so until the next day when a doctor prescribed Bass eight milligrams of the anti-psychotic drug Trilafon. Bass objected to taking the medication, but was informed that he could not refuse the medication, and that if he did not swallow the pill, the nurse would inject him with medication. Bass states that he only pretended to swallow the pill. The doctor did not conduct any examination of Bass at this time.

Bass waited three days before receiving a medical examination on Thursday, April 25, 1996. The examining physician found that Bass was not in need of mental treatment. Despite the examining physician's determination, Bass was held at Parkwood for five more days until Tuesday, April 30, 1996, when the chancery court vacated the writ and ordered Bass's release.

Parkwood has since billed Bass over $7,000 for the cost of his hospitalization.

In July 1996, Bass, proceeding pro se, filed this suit in the court below against Parkwood, DeSoto County, and Sheets. ⁵ Bass's in forma pauperis complaint alleges that Parkwood and Sheets maliciously and in bad faith falsified the affidavit, that Bass was denied due process throughout his detention, that Parkwood failed to accommodate his religious dietary preferences, that Parkwood failed to accommodate his disability (involving a leg injury), and that Parkwood discriminated against him on the basis of race. Bass requested $100,000 in damages in addition to costs, and an order that defendants "discontinue bad faith commitments." We interpret Bass's complaint to attempt to assert claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1999), 42 U.S.C. § 2000a (1999), and Mississippi tort law.

The district court referred the case to a magistrate judge for a Spears hearing. See Spears v. McCotter, 766 F.2d 179 (5th Cir.1985); 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A) (1999). At the hearing, the magistrate judge revoked Bass's in forma pauperis status. The magistrate judge recognized that the general procedure in such a situation has been to dismiss a complaint without prejudice, granting the plaintiff leave to amend. Nonetheless, the magistrate judge...