Target: Colette S. Peters, Director of Federal Bureau of Prisons
Goal: Protect mentally ill prisoners from neglect and other deadly dangers.
A Georgia man dies inside a Georgia jail. He is dehydrated, bears signs of significant parasite infestation, and a medical review reportedly declares his jail cell a “torture chamber” and his death a homicide due to suspected negligence. In Indiana, a jailed man apparently endures three weeks of solitary confinement. He dies from organ failure a short time later. And in Pennsylvania, a man awaiting a court date is allegedly murdered at a state hospital by his roommate. Each of these men had one thing in common: a history of schizophrenia. And each of the cases also shares a commonality: accusations of deadly neglect.
Incarceration is often a clear and present danger for individuals suffering from severe mental health conditions. In one study, less than half of inmates diagnosed with a mental illness like schizophrenia received regular dosages of needed medication. After the Federal Bureau of Prisons received intense criticism following one deadly incident, the bureau pledged that it would strengthen mental healthcare for inmates. Yet a follow-up study revealed that only three percent of inmates benefit from routine mental health treatment, even though as many as 30 percent of inmates are classified as mentally ill within state incarceration systems.
Sign the petition below to demand more humane treatment for individuals already battling a lifetime of adversity and risk.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Director Peters,
An individual diagnosed with a severe mental illness such as schizophrenia faces quadruple the possibility than a mentally healthy person of being imprisoned for a minor charge. These individuals also endure longer sentences when they are incarcerated. And once they are within the system, deadly neglect often is the tragic consequence.
Despite estimates that as many as thirty percent of inmates suffer from a significant mental health condition, the number of inmates receiving the mandated mental health treatment plans remains dangerously low. The caseload even reportedly dropped shortly after the bureau pledged needed reform. Please develop stronger and better-funded plans of action to address the mental health crisis and life-threatening, inhumane neglect crippling America’s incarceration system.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Ron Lach
This is a horrible way to live. Yet many prisoners would willingly say they have a mental condition. If a person has a mental condition it is best they receive medication. Possibly they could be placed in a section more closely monitored. The fact of why they are in prison is a factor of consideration. I am concerned about those who suffer needlessly but all who enter prison did something to deserve to be in prison. This reminder of why prisoners are there is to be well remembered.