D.C. Violates ADA By Sending Police to Mental Health Crises: ACLU
A new lawsuit alleges that the city is discriminating against people with mental health disabilities by continuing to send armed officers to mental health calls.
Meg O'Connor Jul 06, 2023
Post-Traumatic Prison Disorder Could Impact Millions. Congress Wants to Learn More.
Federal lawmakers are asking the National Institute of Mental Health to research the condition—also known as post-incarceration syndrome—and share its findings with lawmakers.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg May 04, 2023
Dreaming at the Crossroads of Liberation, Collective Care, and Safety
In Healing Justice Lineages, Cara Page and Erica Woodland document a history of care models that don’t involve the prison industrial complex.
Cara Page and Erica Woodland Apr 26, 2023
Indiana Jail Let Man With Schizophrenia Starve to Death in Solitary, Lawsuit Alleges
Graphic video footage obtained by The Appeal shows 29-year-old Joshua McLemore wasting away and rolling in his own waste in the Jackson County Jail before eventually dying of malnutrition.
Tana Ganeva Apr 12, 2023
Adams’ Forced Hospitalization Plan Will Have Lifelong Consequences
New York law can leave people who are involuntarily committed financially liable for their hospital bills and ambulance ride
Jerry Iannelli Dec 07, 2022
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 Dec 01, 2022
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 Nov 22, 2022
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 Nov 17, 2022
Can We Imagine a World Without Institutionalized Kids?
The U.S. must close its congregate care facilities and fully fund community-based alternatives for kids with mental-health issues.
Rashni Stanford May 11, 2022
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 Jun 15, 2021
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 May 08, 2021
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 May 04, 2021
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 Apr 20, 2021
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 Feb 24, 2021
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 Sep 29, 2020
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 Sep 28, 2020
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 Jul 15, 2020
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 Jul 03, 2020
Community-Based Emergency First Responders: Explained
In our Explainer series, Justice Collaborative lawyers, journalists, and other legal experts help unpack some of the most complicated issues in the criminal justice system. We break down the problems behind the headlines—like bail, civil asset forfeiture, or the Brady doctrine—so that everyone can understand them. Wherever possible, we try to utilize the stories of […]
Patrisse Cullors, Tim Black Jun 25, 2020
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 Jun 12, 2020
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 Jun 04, 2020
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 Feb 14, 2020
Why Police Violence Is A Public Health Problem
“A public health approach neither accepts harm as a given nor accepts punishment as prevention.”
Vaidya Gullapalli Jan 29, 2020
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 Jan 22, 2020
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 Oct 21, 2019
Mental Health Crises Require Mental Health, Not Policing, Responses
At least a quarter of all people killed by police each year suffer from untreated mental illnesss. New York City’s Public Advocate is proposing a new hotline and mental health crisis teams.
Vaidya Gullapalli Sep 27, 2019
‘It Will Certainly Save Lives’: A Q&A About Medicaid Coverage For People Preparing For Re-entry
Federal policy denies incarcerated people Medicaid coverage, making re-entry a time of heightened health risks. Tracie Gardner of the Legal Action Center explains New York State’s effort to “break the cycle of justice-involvement, poor health, economic instability, and recidivism that plagues individuals and families throughout New York.”
Vaidya Gullapalli Sep 18, 2019
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 Sep 06, 2019
A huge victory in L.A. represents a shift in thinking about public safety
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors votes to cancel contract to build Mental Health Treatment Center in place of Men’s Central Jail
Vaidya Gullapalli Aug 14, 2019
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 Aug 14, 2019
Epstein’s Death Reveals ‘Culture of Indifference’ in Jails
The same culture exists across the country, experts say—with devastating effects.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Aug 12, 2019
Jail Deaths Are Just One Reason To Invest In Jail Alternatives
Jeffrey Epstein’s apparent death by suicide highlights the problems of adequate mental health care and monitoring in jails nationwide.
Vaidya Gullapalli Aug 12, 2019
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 Aug 08, 2019
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 Jun 07, 2019
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 May 17, 2019
‘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 Apr 16, 2019
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 Jan 29, 2019
‘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 Dec 05, 2018
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 Oct 12, 2018
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 Sep 04, 2018