Bucks Settles Lawsuit Filed By Three Women Inmates The County Has Agreed On A Financial Settlement And Will Do A Study On The Treatment Of Women And The Mentally Ill.

The idea for the task force was proposed as part of settlement negotiations, said Martha Sperling, a Doylestown lawyer who represents the three women inmates.

The panel will include "a cross-section of people with expertise in corrections and treatment," including law-enforcement officials, county officials, and drug- and alcohol-treatment specialists, Mitchell said.

They will present findings and recommendations in about six months to U.S. Magistrate Judge Diane M. Welsh, who has been involved with the settlement negotiations, Mitchell said.

"The county's legal department feels this is the best approach to resolving the dispute instead of having a prolonged legal battle, which could be years in the making and millions in costs and fees," Mitchell said. "It's people from Bucks County on a task force studying issues and trying to come up with an amicable solution."

Mitchell said that if one of the parties rejected the task force's recommendations, the case would be referred back to Welsh for arbitration.

Neither Mitchell nor Sperling would disclose the amount of the financial settlement.

"I'm really excited, and I really hope it works out," Sperling said. "I hope that when it does work out, it becomes a model for prisons across the state."