Mental Health Patients In Prison

I woke this morning bitching about having to shovel snow today.

That was before I saw the headline about an ex-veteran who was reportedly 'baked to death' in a jail cell in New York. It seems Rikers Island, a prison that quarters over 12,000 inmates, has malfunctioning ventilation and heating systems, so this inmate died of probable heat stroke (probable, of course, because the autopsy was inconclusive).

The man who died was a 56-year-old veteran who served in the U.S. Marine Corp. He was homeless and suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

While trying to keep warm, he was arrested for trespassing and had an unattainably high bail set -- one he obviously couldn't pay -- so he went to Rikers Island because, according to our justice system, this homeless, mentally ill, former Marine was a criminal who should be thrown in prison.

Didn't this man deserve medical treatment at a hospital?

Didn't this man deserve to be taken care of?

Didn't this man deserve to be treated fairly and humanely?

Didn't this man who served his country -- the most powerful country in the world -- deserve better?

Rikers Island is one of the top ten worst prisons in America, according to Mother Jones. The man who was allowed to die was in a special unit of the massive prison where inmates with mental health problems are 'housed.' No one checked on him and, when he was found dead, his defense attorney was not notified for three days and his family was never notified by the prison, they found out through the media. 

As a society, how can we stay silent about billion dollar healthcare industries and broken prison systems that fail any of us who suffer from mental illness? How can budgets continue to be cut when it comes to mental illness, and how can people who should be patients in hospitals continue to be thrown in prison because there is no where else to send them when they've broken the law?

Statistics show that untreated mentally ill people eventually end up facing police officers for crimes their mental illness, homelessness, drug or alcohol addiction or extreme poverty drive them to. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Corrections:

Prison and jail inmates with physical health, mental health, and substance use problems experience more reintegration difficulties upon release, and typically have poorer outcomes with respect to employment, re-offending, and re-incarceration.

While I will not suggest that every prison system employee is a callous asshole who has no concern for the inmates they are sworn to care for, I will suggest that prison administrators need to collectively manage the problem and refuse to accept inmates who should be in hospitals and treatment centers, rather than prison.

A 2010 report cited in USA Today found that certain states have higher rates of putting mentally ill people in jail than others. Why is that? Would an investigation of these prisons find that privatized prisons -- ones that view inmates as commodities -- have higher than average statistics of incarcerating men and women who need medical treatment rather than punishment? Just asking a question here. I don't know the answer to it.

New York's Acting Department of Corrections Commissioner Mark Cranston assured the public that an investigation is underway. Wow, that puts my mind at ease. In his statement, Cranston labeled Jerome Murdough's death 'unfortunate.' Unfortunate?! Try Appalling. Outrageous. Sickening. Needless. Doesn't a system that accepts the responsibility of holding human beings against their will have a legal duty to make sure those people are not allowed to suffer cruel and unusual punishment or untimely deaths? Maybe 'Criminal' is a better word to describe Jerome's death, Mr. Cranston?

The Justice Department admits that mentally ill prisoners are easy targets for other inmates, are more often preyed upon, and have more trouble with guards for failing to follow rules. Yes, that makes sense, because mentally ill people do not think or act like people who don't suffer from mental illness. That's why they need medical attention. That's why they shouldn't be thrown in prison. That's why people like Jerome Murdough are found dead in their cells.

For more insight into our problematic criminal justice system, visit ACLU: Prisoners' Rights.