Opinion

Mary Roe v. Ashtabula County Mental Health Board

  • 726 F.2d 270
  • 1984 U.S. App. LEXIS 26503
Court
Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Filed
Jan 12, 1984
Status
Published
Cited by
0 cases
Authority
More cited than 15.4%

The opinion

726 F.2d 270

Mary ROE, by John DOE, her son and next friend, and Mary

Doe, individually and on behalf of all others

similarly situated, Plaintiffs-Appellees,

v.

ASHTABULA COUNTY MENTAL HEALTH BOARD; Franklin County

Mental Health Board; Gallia-Jackson-Meigs Mental

Health Board; Clark County Mental

Health Board, Intervenors

Defendants-Appellants,

and

Timothy B. Moritz, M.D., and Donald E. Widmann, M.D.,

Defendants-Appellees.

No. 82-3431.

United States Court of Appeals,

Sixth Circuit.

Argued Dec. 9, 1983.

Decided Jan. 12, 1984.

Gary Leo Yost, Asst. Prosecutor, Jefferson, Ohio, Dennis J. Murphy, Columbus, Ohio, David A. Weaver (argued), Springfield, Ohio, Gene Wetherholt, Asst. Pros. Atty., Columbus, Ohio, for intervenors defendants-appellants.

John Woliver (argued) Batavia, Ohio, for plaintiffs-appellees.

Deborah A. Piperni (argued), Asst. Atty. Gen., Columbus, Ohio, for defendants-appellees.

Before EDWARDS and MARTIN, Circuit Judges; and PECK, Senior Circuit Judge.

PER CURIAM.

1

In this case we are asked to review the granting of a preliminary injunction which enforced a proposed settlement agreement between the plaintiffs and the State of Ohio regarding the distribution of funds under Title XX of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1397 , et seq. In the original complaint it was charged that the State was distributing funds under Title XX in an unlawful and unequal manner which resulted in the delay or loss of the delivery of mental health services to the plaintiffs. Following a series of hearings and intense negotiations, the parties agreed to a new formula for the distribution of Title XX funds. After receiving notice of the proposed settlement, a group of Ohio mental health boards, who had earlier received a disproportionately large share of the Title XX funds, intervened pursuant to a class designation entered by the district court.

2

The proposed settlement may well serve the citizens of Ohio better than a previous state plan. We do not, however, agree that preliminary relief was appropriate. Plaintiffs have failed to satisfy the requirements set forth in North Avondale Neighborhood Ass'n v. Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Auth., 464 F.2d 486, 488 (6th Cir.1972), to merit the grant of a preliminary injunction. Although plaintiffs have demonstrated a strong probability of success on the merits, they have failed to establish that they would be subjected to irreparable injury or substantial harm without the entry of a preliminary injunction.

3

Accordingly, the preliminary injunction entered by the district court must be dissolved. The district court, however, may desire to retain the case on its docket in order to allow the parties to finalize their settlement agreement.

4

Therefore, the case is remanded to the District Court in accordance with the rules set forth above.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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