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An 18-year-old Montana State Prison inmate who sued over the way he was being treated is asking a judge to order him held at the state mental hospital until trial.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Montana sued the state on behalf of Raistlen Katka in December 2009, arguing he had been held in solitary confinement for almost a year.

A hearing that began Tuesday before District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock in Helena sought to determine if the case should go to trial while the ACLU also argues that that Katka should be held at the Montana State Hospital because he made a recent suicide attempt.

The state argued Katka was held in the prison's maximum security unit to protect him and that prison mental health officials do not believe he suffers from a serious mental illness.