Judge dismisses lawsuit brought by former mental patient

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. -- A judge has dismissed a lawsuit by a man who drew national attention fighting his involuntary commitment to a state mental hospital.

U.S. District Judge Michael J. Reagan dismissed Rodney Yoder's lawsuit at the request of defense lawyers when Yoder failed to show up in Springfield for a deposition Friday.

Yoder, who lives in the Madison County village of New Douglas, said he couldn't afford to make the 60-mile trips to Springfield for the depositions.

Yoder was released from the Chester Mental Health Center and other institutions last year after seeking his freedom since 1991. His $100 million lawsuit claimed then-Gov. George Ryan, state psychologists and the Illinois Department of Human Services conspired to keep him institutionalized.

"It's a failure of the justice system," Yoder said of the judge's decision Friday. "We knew this was going to happen."

Yoder said a northern Illinois attorney who took his case pulled out when it was transferred to East St. Louis. Yoder has been unable to hire another lawyer, he said, but plans to appeal to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.

Yoder was involuntarily committed to Chester, a high-security center, in 1991 after serving prison time for hitting his ex-wife with a table leg. Prison officials said he had violent outbursts.

Over the years, court-appointed doctors diagnosed Yoder with several psychiatric conditions, but he rejected the diagnoses and refused all treatment.

In January, Yoder was ordered to pay attorney fees and other costs associated with the deposition in his lawsuit.