Fact Sheet #2
People with Serious Mental Illnesses in Jail and Prison
Their Stories
People with mental illnesses often come into contact with the criminal justice
system.
- Steven, 28, has bipolar disorder. He can maintain a normal family life and
a job as a landscaper. He had never had problems with the law or any history
of violent behavior. One night while he was driving, the police pulled him
over. He heard voices telling him to keep going. He did, was shot in the hand,
bitten by police dogs and arrested. He spent four months in jail, without
the medication that had kept him stable. Eventually, he was found not guilty
by reason of insanity and was hospitalized; the charges were dismissed. (Health
Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, 8/00)
A man with a mental illness who was homeless was arrested in Florida for shoplifting
an ice-cream sandwich that cost $ 1.16, then imprisoned because he lacked
the $25 bail for release. (Sun-Sentinel, Ft. Lauderdale, 11/98)
Many lack access to adequate services through the public mental health system.
- Roy was so desperate for mental health treatment that he showed up at the
courthouse and signed his commitment papers. On the day of his hearing, he
packed, ready for a hospital stay, but the hospital couldn't take him for
two months. "What am I supposed to do until then," he asked. No
other services were offered him. Seven weeks later, Roy walked into the woods,
strapped his belt around a low branch and stepped off a plastic bucket. His
body was found a week later, on the day his mother got a call that the hospital
was ready for him. (Time, 7/00)
- Seeking help for their 20-year-old son who was exhibiting unexplained paranoia,
a Latino family called the community mental health crisis line. Nine hours
later a mental health professional arrived with police. After a brief exam
the mental health worker said the young man may need hospitalization and the
officers agreed to take him to a mental health facility. Although they had
found him passively sitting on a sofa, the officers used physical force, beating
him with nightsticks and ultimately pepper-spraying the apartment. The family
watched, stunned. The young man was diagnosed with schizophrenia and more
than a year later remains withdrawn and unable to return to his job. His family
is discouraged about accessing any public services. (Report from a Washington
DC suburb, 4/02)
The criminal justice system is used to fill the void.
- A man with a history of epilepsy was arrested after appearing confused and
disrupting service on a city bus. Upon release, he was found outside the jail
banging his head on a wall and crying. He was then admitted to hospital, where
he threatened people with pencils. Hospital staff called the police and allowed
them to enter patient areas with firearms. After the man became agitated from
complications associated with epileptic seizures, he was shot dead by a police
officer. His family had brought his seizure medication to the hospital the
day before, but they spoke only Spanish and no one could communicate with
them. The medicine was set aside. (Mental Health Weekly, 6/01)
Once people are in the criminal justice system, their mental health needs
are not met.
- An Oregon man with a mental illness gouged out his eyes as he waited in
a Portland jail cell for a psychiatric hospital bed. (The Oregonian 6/12/02)
- Romus was arrested and brought to the Orange County jail in New York, shouting
gibberish. As a result of budget cuts, no psychiatrist was on call, so Romus
was pepper-sprayed and shackled to a restraint chair, where he sat shouting,
twisting and kicking for hours. Eventually, an officer dragged Romus, in the
chair, to the jail's mental health unit and pushed him in. (Middletown Times
Herald-Record, NY, 7/01)
- Shawn, 20, diagnosed with schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder,
has been in and out of state hospitals. He was arrested after punching a security
guard who tried to stop him from stealing. While in jail awaiting a court
hearing, Shawn has tried to kill himself at least four times. "I use
razors, floor tiles, nails, screws, glass, anything," he says, "I
want to die." When he tries to hurt himself, the jail locks him in the
medical observation cell. "When I get locked up like that, all I do is
cry, punch myself in the face, bang my head against the wall." Guards
then strap him in a restraint chair. "There is not a day...that I don't
think of killing myself," he told a reporter. "I just want help.
I want this to end. I've come to the conclusion that death is the only way
out." (Portland Press Herald, 11/01)
Criminal justice and mental health systems have not collaborated well.
- Paul, 24, was arrested for breaking and entering. While processing him,
police saw that he was highly agitated and his behavior was strange. Concerned,
the arresting officers called the area mental health center, a hospital, the
state police and the District Attorney's office to find out what to do. While
the various organizations argued over who should take him, Paul hanged himself
in his cell. (Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, 8/00)
- Joseph is deaf, has a serious mental illness and cannot speak. He was arrested
on a misdemeanor charge. Although the charges were dropped, he remained in
the detention center for two years, lost somewhere between the city's criminal
justice and mental health bureaucracies. (The Washington Post, 9/01)
Collaboration between mental health and criminal justice can lead to better
outcomes.
- Richard, 43, has schizophrenia. He has been arrested 137 times for petty
crimes such as trespassing and panhandling. Unwilling to take medication on
his own, he was caught in a dangerous cycle, from jail to hospital to homelessness.
Thresholds, a nonprofit rehabilitation agency, convinced a judge to release
Richard to their custody. Now he has a single room the group provides for
him, food, money and constant support. It took time, but Richard has been
able to break his cycle of living on the streets or in prison. Over a year
later, he remains arrest-free and says he has never felt happier. Thresholds
costs $25 a day, while jail costs $75 a day. (Health Foundation of Greater
Cincinnati, 8/00)
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