For Mentally Ill Defendants, Coronavirus Means Few Safe Options

Keith had spent over four months in the Hillsboro, Oregon, county jail—charged with robbing a deli with a fake gun—when his delusions returned this February. In a phone call to his father, he rambled about drinking bleach, being exposed to nuclear waste, and fearing going blind. Keith, who is being identified by his first name to protect his privacy, had a history of schizophrenia.

Keith’s lawyer told the circuit court that his client no longer seemed well-functioning enough to stand trial. On March 13, sheriff deputies drove him 50 miles to the Oregon State Hospital in Salem for an evaluation, where a psychologist found him to be seriously mentally ill—enough to be hospitalized. But the next day, the hospital’s superintendent issued a memo halting almost all new admissions in an attempt to slow the spread of coronavirus.

In mid-April, the judge agreed that Keith was incompetent to stand trial and ordered his admission to the state hospital, where he would be medicated, monitored by a psychiatrist and taught how courts work—a process called “competency restoration.” He should have