Clive Munroe Jr. - file photo
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Attorney-at-law Clive Munroe Jr
Attorney-at-law Clive Munroe Jr believes a class action suit filed against the state for the release of about 300 mentally ill detainees in prison awaiting trial could be successful, with the detainees receiving compensation.
According to a report in The Sunday Gleaner, a group of attorneys representing human rights advocates Jamaicans for Justice and Stand Up for Jamaica have filed an application asking the Supreme Court to allow them to bring a class action-type lawsuit against the State over the treatment of mentally ill persons in conflict with the law.
Mr. Munroe, speaking Sunday on Radio Jamaica's That's a Rap, suggested that the state should take preemptive action and release the prisoners detailed in the class action suit, observing that "that would assist the taxpayers..."
The court action would, among other things, seek orders for the release and “proper treatment” of all mentally ill detainees as well as other remedies for alleged constitutional breaches.
According to the Gleaner report, prison officials estimated in 2020 that approximately 300 mentally-challenged persons in conflict with the law were being housed at three correctional facilities with close to half of them listed as “awaiting trial”.
The ultimate release of the detainees "is now inevitable, especially coming out of the report, as done by the judiciary about this situation."
It's now inevitable that significant sums of money will be paid out for the breach of the rights of these persons (in state care)", he declared.
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