A private, for-profit methadone clinic in Pikesville will remain open after a federal jury found Baltimore County guilty of discriminating against the facility?s clients Tuesday.
Jury members agreed an emergency zoning bill passed by the county council in 2002 banning certain clinics, including methadone facilities, from residential areas violated the Americans with Disability Acts, according to attorneys. They also said the council did not allow clinic owner Joel Prell his right to due process when they rushed the emergency legislation through the typical legislative route.
A Helping Hand, which treats about 350 recovering heroin addicts using a synthetic narcotic, has remained open on Slade Avenue during litigation for the past four yearsand will remain open, attorneys said.
“I think the jury confirmed our feeling that, in this instance, the county has not treated methadone patients in the way we all expected to be treated ? fairly and without prejudice,” said clinic attorney Erroll Patterson.
County attorneys did not return a phone call by press time. County spokesman Don Mohler said he expects Executive Jim Smith, a former circuit court judge, to issue a statement on the county?s next step soon.
“We?re disappointed,” Mohler said. “We thought we had a strong case, and we think it?s an important case.”
The three-week trial included the testimony of three addicts receiving treatment at the clinic who also filed unsuccessful claims against the county. During closing arguments Monday, Mayhew attacked Prell as a Glen Burnie pizza shop manager who has no qualifications to distribute regulated narcotics.
Mayhew questioned the credibility of the clinic?s witnesses and said the county was guarding residents against criminality associated with heroin addiction. He said Council Member Kevin Kamenetz, D-District 2, introduced the bill in response to angry clinic neighbors.
“The disabled have a seat at the table,” Mayhew told jurors Monday. “Just not necessarily the seat of their choice, none of us do. We all have to live together.”
U.S. District Judge Catherine Blake, who presided over the trial, has struck down earlier county zoning laws regulating methadone clinics.
