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Local
Friday, September 1, 2000
Institutionalized Illinoisan wins appeal, but he's not free yet
SPRINGFIELD -- A federal appeals court has sided with a man Illinois officials claim is too psychologically unstable to be released from a state mental institution.
C. Rodney Yoder, a former Iroquois County resident, said Thursday he was proud of the victory, but was unsure whether it would make any difference in his long-running fight to win his freedom from a state-run mental hospital in Southern Illinois.
In a ruling handed down in Chicago last week, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a lower federal court must gauge Yoder's competency as part of one of the many lawsuits Yoder has filed. If he is judged mentally incompetent under Illinois law, the court must then decide whether he is entitled to a lawyer.
Yoder has been incarcerated at Chester Mental Health Center in Randolph County since 1991 under a law that allows involuntary commitment of people who are judged dangerous to themselves and others.
Yoder, however, contends he has been given little opportunity to disprove a contention that he's a psychological time bomb capable of harming others.
Yoder said it was gratifying to win in appeals court, but worried that the decision may not result in him winning his release. Nonetheless, he said the decision -- and subsequent media coverage of it -- may help him drum up support from experts in the field of mental health who may be able to convince state officials that he should no longer be held at Chester.
"I've got to make this attractive to the experts," he said.
The 41-year-old Yoder has spent more than a dozen years in state custody -- whether in prison or at Chester. In 1979, he was convicted of punching a girlfriend and sent to prison. In 1990, he was sentenced to prison for hitting his ex-wife with a chair while drunk.
When his sentence was over, however, authorities committed him to Chester rather than release him.
Since arriving in Chester, Yoder has been tireless in trying to convince others he is being held as a "political prisoner." His persistence in asking for help from elected officials has landed him on several law enforcement agency watch lists. And, officials including Gov. George Ryan have asked that Yoder no longer contact them about his case.
But he has received potentially positive attention from others.
In 1997, for example, U.S. Rep. Tom Ewing of Pontiac requested that the U.S. Department of Justice investigate Yoder's accusations. Others who have made similar requests include U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, current Democratic vice presidential candidate, and U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois.
Officials at the state's Guardianship & Advocacy Commission also have argued on behalf of Yoder.
In a 1997 letter to Durbin's office, Michael Pintar, a regional coordinator for the commission said, "In my experience as an advocate for the recipient, I have found him to be a rational individual whose allegations of rights violations had, in most cases, some validity."
Despite getting the ear of those officials, however, Yoder remains locked up, primarily on the testimony of the clinical director of Chester Mental Health Center. Psychologist Daniel J. Cuneo believes Yoder has a personality disorder that makes him too dangerous to release.
A Randolph County jury sided with Cuneo last year when they agreed that Yoder should remain in custody.
By winning this appeal in the 7th Circuit last week, Yoder could get another day in court to argue he is competent and should no longer be held at the mental health facility.