Jackson Free Press

Attorney General Jim Hood issued a statement in response to the DOJ Olmstead lawsuit, filed today in federal court. That statement is reproduced in full below.

JACKSON— A lawsuit filed today by the U.S. Department of Justice against the state of Mississippi provides the most meaningful opportunity yet for leaders to work together to continue to improve the state’s mental health system, Attorney General Jim Hood said today.

The federal government alleges that the state has violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by housing mentally ill individuals in institutions rather than community settings. The Department of Justice has filed similar lawsuits in about a dozen states alleging violations of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision.

“This lawsuit is a clarion call to all of us in state leadership to consider how we care for the least among us and how we can make it better,” Attorney General Hood said. “I see this litigation as a challenge to our Legislature to find the resources we need to continue to expand mental health services. This is a clear opportunity for our Legislature, mental health professionals, our faith-based community and all of us as Mississippians to come together to determine an effective way to address issues related to our mental health delivery system for years to come. It’s our obligation as Christians and people of faith to take care of those who are unable to take care of themselves. It’s time for each of us to move forward to better fulfill that fundamental responsibility.

“The state has made great progress in expanding community mental health programs, and we will continue to push for expansion. We have come a long way, but further work remains to be done.”

Attorney General Hood said his office has been negotiating with DOJ for several years in an effort to avoid litigation, which is expected to be a considerable cost to the state at a time when tax cuts have caused significant budget problems. However, the Attorney General refused to accept the federal government’s demands for a court-ordered consent decree that would bind the state to perpetual federal oversight.

Attorney General Hood had also hoped that good-faith efforts to address the state’s mental health needs might allay the federal government’s concerns. Thus, the Attorney General has encouraged lawmakers for years to allocate additional resources to the Department of Mental Health. The Legislature did provide some extra funding in previous sessions, but this year actually cut the Department’s budget by $8.3 million. Since 2008, the Department has been forced to eliminate approximately 500 mental health beds, in addition to 34 beds in 2016 because of the Legislature’s budget cuts and its refusal to provide additional money for mental health programs.

“Not only did the Department of Mental Health take a substantial budget hit, the Legislature did not agree to a request for more than $12 million for community mental health programs,” Attorney General Hood said. “That would have helped us continue our expansion of community-based mental health services …

Breaking: Simone Biles wins the gold medal in the women’s all-around final and teammate Aly Raisman wins the silver medal. The event was held today and will be seen in primetime on NBC as coverage starts at 7 p.m.

The members of the U.S. women’s gymnastics team call themselves “The Final Five,” and now, they can call themselves “The Golden Girls” after their gold medal in the team final. They crushed their opponents in a sport where the winners are normally separated by 10ths of points.

Instead, the U.S. women had a score of 184.897 points, winning by 8.209 points over second-place Russia, which had a score of 176.688. China took the bronze with 176.003 points, Japan finished fourth with 174.371, and Great Britain finished fifth with 174.362.

The scores above show just how dominant the U.S. women’s gymnastics team has been in Rio. Just .685 points separated second place and third places, and fourth and fifth place were separated by .009 points.

This is the largest margin of victory in the gymnastics team final since the current points system was put in place in 2006 and replaced the “Perfect 10” scoring system. The U.S. women also broke their own record when the “Fierce Five” won by 5.066 points in the London games four years ago.

By winning in Rio, this is the first time the U.S. women have won back-to-back gold medals in the team finals and the third Olympic gold medal in the event overall. The U.S. has medaled in this event from every Olympics since the 1992 games. Over that period of time, the U.S. has three gold medals (1996, 2012, 2016), two silver medals (2004, 2008) and two bronze medals (1992, 2000).

U.S. women’s gymnastics is working on taking over the sport with back-to-back Olympic gold medals and world championships in 2011, 2014 and 2015. This current team might be the best the U.S. has ever sent to the Olympics.

London holdovers Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman and perhaps the best gymnast in the world, Simone Biles, lead the team. First-time Olympians Laurie Hernandez and Madison Kocian might not get the headlines of the top-three U.S. gymnasts but are great in their events.

In Rio, the Americans had the highest team score in each event.

On the uneven bars, the U.S. women only held a .333 advantage over the second-best team, but Kocian has the best score of her career, and Douglas matched her best score of the year. Biles finished with the highest score on the balance beam, Hernandez finished third, and the U.S. finished .935 points over the second-place team.

Biles and Raisman both executed an Amanar, which is one of the most difficult vaults, as Biles finished with the top score. The U.S. women were able to start with a lead of 1.133 over the second-best team. The vault was the first event for the U.S. women in the team …