Court rejects claim against Nevada in patient busing case

CARSON CITY — A federal appeals court has rejected a claim against the state of Nevada by a man involved in the busing of psychiatric patients from Las Vegas to California.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision issued today, denied the claim on behalf of James Flavey Coy Brown and the others who were discharged from the state’s Rawson Neal Psychiatric Hospital and given bus tickets but no treatment plans or contacts in the place they were headed.

The court said attorneys for Brown failed to raise a key issue in their opening appeal briefs.

Brown, in his lawsuit, maintained he was in the hospital for a few days in February 2013 and was given “psychotropic medications” that affected his thinking and judgment. He asserted he was hearing voices and was in a delusional and suicidal state.

He said that, against his will, he was put on a bus without money or identification to Sacramento, where he lacked any ties.

His lawsuit alleged his constitutional rights and the Americans with Disability Act were violated .

The mental controversy prompted the state to pay $400,000 to San Francisco, which sued Nevada over the busing issue.

The decision, written by Judge Barbara Lynn, noted that a federal judge in Las Vegas initially dismissed Brown’s suit but allowed him to revise the action. Brown moved for reconsideration, which as denied, but the judge gave Brown another chance to amend this complaint.

When attorneys for Brown failed to amend the suit, the judge dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning the lawsuit could not be filed again.

The appeals court said lawyers failed in their opening brief to raise the issue about the dismissal with prejudice. It said the failure does not allow for an appeal.

Judge Susan Graber, in her dissent, said Brown had a “plausible claim” and the case should not have been dismissed.