NYC Advocates Fear More Police Violence, Homeless Criminalization Amid Forced Hospitalizations New York City Mayor Eric Adams issued a directive this week that puts police at the center of renewed efforts to remove people exhibiting signs of mental illness from public spaces. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Colorado Prisons Hold People in Painful Metal Shackles for Weeks, Report Says A soon-to-be-released report reveals that metal “four-point” restraints are often used for multiple days in a row, including on one person who was held for 39 straight days. A new state bill would set stricter parameters. Daliah Singer
Internal Report Details Severely Malnourished Detainees at Atlanta-Area Jail The facility’s medical provider described people with mental illness wasting away in a unit overrun by an outbreak of lice and scabies. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
How a Troubled Police Department Is Shaping Buffalo’s Mayoral Race Citing years of police brutality and racial disparities in arrests, activists are pushing candidates to embrace reforms ahead of next week’s Democratic primaries. Raina Lipsitz
Brooklyn Center Mayor Unveils Plan To Decrease Police Traffic Enforcement Powers The proposal by Mike Elliott, if passed by City Council, would also create a department of unarmed professionals trained to respond to mental health needs. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Aftab Pureval and David Mann Win Cincinnati Mayoral Primary The candidates—who didn’t support an affordable housing investment that was rejected by voters today—now advance to the November ballot. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Oakland Takes First Steps Toward Directing Some 911 Calls To Community Responders It will be months before the pilot program is implemented in part of East Oakland, but activists say it’s a move in the right direction. Eliyahu Kamisher
Virginia Bans Mental Health Evidence in Trials. Lawmakers Could Soon Change This Proposed legislation would allow people accused of crimes to tell juries if they had a mental illness, autism spectrum disorder, or an intellectual or developmental disability at the time of a crime. The bill could have helped individuals like Matthew Rushin. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
California Needs A Community-Based Response To People In Crisis, Not Law Enforcement Governor Newsom should sign the CRISES Act into law this week and invest in community partners who support people in crisis situations. Asantewaa Boykin
Chicago Lawmakers Push To Build Team Of Emergency Responders Who Aren’t Police The proposed legislation would expand the city’s public mental healthcare system using funds reallocated from the police budget. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Reimagining A Future With Less Policing Means Asking Tough Questions About the Powers We Assign To Law Enforcement As criminal justice reformers take steps to defund police departments and limit qualified immunity, it’s important to consider the role of universal and special duties in policing. Eric Kennedy
People In Crisis Need Social Workers, Not Cops Social Workers address crises regularly and without an armed police officer standing in front of us. Often, the presence of an armed officer escalates a crisis that could have been better handled by mental health professionals alone. Vivianne Guevara, Nakia Winfield
Suit Seeks $10 Million For ‘Senseless, Avoidable Death’ Of Tennessee Man In Custody Sterling Higgins called 911 in March 2019 seeking help during a mental health crisis. Police took him to Obion County Jail, where he died after officers pinned him to a floor. Tana Ganeva
Obscure New Jersey ‘Treatment’ Facility Has A Higher COVID-19 Death Rate Than Any Prison In The Country The detainees already completed their criminal sentences—but they are prevented from leaving for years. And with the coronavirus spreading, their lives are at risk. Jordan Michael Smith
He Attempted Suicide and Ended Up In Jail Arthur’s story speaks to a troubling tendency in the legal system, reform advocates say: to treat mental health crises as criminal matters, rather than matters of public health. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
New San Francisco D.A. Inherits Chance To Hold Police Accountable In Shooting Of Man With Mental Illness Activists hope Chesa Boudin will press charges, and push for systemic changes to address the criminalization of mental illness. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Exploiting New York City’s Chinatown Killings to Attack Bail Reform The New York Post used a tragedy to target bail reform activists, rather than point to the challenges of a failed mental health system and poverty. Adam H. Johnson
‘It Will Certainly Save Lives’: A Q&A About Medicaid Coverage For People Preparing For Re-entry Vaidya Gullapalli
An Indiana Woman’s Long Fight for Justice In a rare move, a federal court vacated Anastazia Schmid’s murder conviction, saying she’d received ineffective assistance of counsel and had been mentally unfit to stand trial. But Schmid, who’d spent 18 years in prison, remained locked up for three months more. Victoria Law
Ohio Governor Wants to Detain Fewer Mentally Ill People Before Trial In the wake of the Dayton shooting, Gov. Mike DeWine proposed creating more space in psychiatric hospitals by removing some people who are court-ordered to be there. Kira Lerner
Epstein’s Death Reveals ‘Culture of Indifference’ in Jails The same culture exists across the country, experts say—with devastating effects. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
LA County Supervisors to Vote on Canceling Jail Contract Black Lives Matter and other advocates have pushed county officials to abandon the $2.2 billion project with McCarthy Builders. Lauren Gill
L.A. Prosecutor Touts Her Mental Health Reforms, But Critics Say She’s Making The Crisis Worse Advocates and attorneys say Jackie Lacey’s rhetoric doesn’t match her actions. Raven Rakia
North Carolina Jail Staff Accused Of Beating And Abusing Mentally Ill Veteran A civil rights lawsuit claims officers pepper sprayed him, stripped him naked, and then surrounded him and beat him to death. Kira Lerner
‘They’re Trying To Kill Us In Here’ At Virginia’s Hampton Roads Regional Jail, reform has been slow even after high-profile tragedies including the death of mentally disabled man incarcerated who allegedly stole $5 worth of snacks. Aaron Morrison
In 1 Day, New Mexico Prison Had 2 Suicides In Solitary Confinement The state uses solitary at one of the highest rates in the nation. Kira Lerner
‘No Shower, Wearing Diapers, Laying There For So Long’ Lawsuits that challenge mental healthcare and medical care for incarcerated people advance in Illinois. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Cash Bail Yields A New Casualty A Texas jail suicide involving a woman who couldn’t make bail in a shoplifting case highlights of the plight of pretrial detainees with mental illness. Lauren Gill
The Endless Punishment of Civil Commitment Prosecutors can subject those convicted of sexual offenses—and sometimes, those with no conviction at all—to an indefinite period of civil punishment at the end of their criminal sentence. Guy Hamilton-Smith
“It Is So Loud Inside My Head” The words of a mentally ill man the state of Arkansas hopes to execute on November 9th
