Israeli Police Shooting of Mentally Ill Man Reflects Years-long Pattern of Neglect
Although an interministerial committee to improve law enforcement preparedness for interacting with people with disabilities was established almost three years ago, police officials and mental health professionals said that none of the recommendations have been implemented. See more of the story here.
Previously Withheld Video Shows Disabled Man’s Fatal Struggle With Pottawatomie County Jailers
Via Oklahoma Watch: “Family members have been seeking answers about what happened to Ronald Gene Given in the Pottawatomie County jail since his 2019 death, which a medical examiner ruled a homicide. Newly released video shows county detention officers twice slamming Given — arrested days earlier in the midst of a mental health crisis — […]
The NY Times: Jail Is a Death Sentence for a Growing Number of Americans
In Houston’s jail, where the population is at its highest in a decade, 24 people have died this year. More than half had a history of mental problems. “Houston, whose jail has reached its highest population count in over a decade, is far from the only city where jails have become more fatal. Deaths have […]
Three Police Officers Suspended After Shooting of Woman with Disabilities
Detroit’s police chief has suspended two officers and a supervisor following last week’s fatal police shooting of a woman suffering from mental illness. Detroit Police Chief James White said Monday he will recommend to the city’s Board of Police Commissioners that all three be suspended without pay. White took the steps after the woman became the […]
Indiana DOC lawsuit: Mentally ill Black inmates are majority in segregation
This piece from NPR illustrates the intersection of racism, criminal justice, and mental illness that leads to medical incarceration. “Black inmates who need mental health care spend more time in segregation and far less time with counselors than their white counterparts in Illinois prisons, according to a new complaint filed in federal court seeking better […]
Porter Burks
Detroit: Burks, 22, diagnosed with schizophrenia, was experiencing a mental health crisis Oct. 2 when his family called the police, asking for help. Body-camera footage from a crisis intervention team (CIT) officer on hand shows Burks standing in the middle of the street while officers offer him help several times and ask him to put the knife […]
The Problem With How Courts Decide Whether Someone Can Be Executed
“The criminal justice system is unequipped to grapple with the complexity of mental illness.“ In this Slate.com reporting by Maria Armstrong-Lopez, I learned that the 2007 Supreme Court case Panetti v. Quarterman set the standard for when the government can execute someone with severe mental illness. I also learned that, fifteen years later, the state of Texas governor Greg […]
Somalian with Schizophrenia Kidnapped and Beaten by Local Police Trio
(Malta, EU) A Somali man was allegedly kidnapped and beaten by police last month in a racist-motivated attack had a long-standing mental illness. The victim was diagnosed with Schizophrenia. This incident is currently under trial in Malta. Compilation of evidence against Rika Mifsud Gretsch, 22, of Floriana, Jürgen Falzon, 24, of Santa Venera, and Luca […]
Ian Fackender
Coroner finds fatal police shooting of man with schizophrenia experiencing psychosis was preventable.
“We continue to send people with mental disorders to prison, because there seems to be nowhere else for them to go.”
Have jails become the replacement for mental hospitals? https://bit.ly/3UhZIVK Salon.com reports, “researchers looked at data from all 3,141 U.S. counties and singled out variables that could influence jail population per capita. After analyzing their data, it became clear that, as the report puts it, “counties with smaller populations, larger percentages of individuals that did not graduate […]