Amid Fears of Crime and Mental Illness, States Move to Expand Forced Treatment Advocates of assisted outpatient treatment say it could reduce homelessness and mass shootings. Critics call it incarceration by another name. Caleb Brennan
28 Years, 160 Arrests: What One Man’s Record Reveals About San Diego’s Broken Justice System What do you do with people who are repeatedly failed by social services and the legal system? Kelly Davis
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
Jackie Lacey Met Her Progressive Challengers On Stage For The First Time, And It Was Explosive A fiery debate outlined what’s at stake in the race to lead the largest prosecutor’s office in the country. Eliyahu Kamisher
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
‘Weird News,’ ‘Dumb Criminals’ and the Media’s Monetization of Human Misery There’s a cynical local-to-national news pipeline designed to mock the powerless under the guise of “odd” news stories. Adam H. Johnson
It’s Time For LA’s District Attorney’s Office To Lead The Way On Decriminalizing Homelessness As a form of punishment, incarceration does not enhance public safety when it is not balanced against its tendency to make a person’s unfortunate situation worse. Alex Sherman
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
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
Atlanta Bail Reform Is Leaving Behind Homeless and Mentally Ill People A number of people spent multiple days at the Atlanta City Detention Center for low-level offenses, including for driving while using a cell phone and for walking in the roadway. Aaron Morrison
Jailed Men Get Help While Women Languish, Georgia Lawsuit Claims Women with mental illness are left in isolation and filth, and often placed in solitary confinement, according to a suit against the Fulton County sheriff. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
‘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
The Appeal’s Favorite Stories of 2018 Our staff picks 12 stories worth reading (or rereading) before the new year.
‘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
A Distressed Man Came to a Police Station Looking for Help. Hours Later, He Was In a Coma. Earl McNeil’s family is demanding answers from the National City, California, police department. Max Rivlin-Nadler
Locked up for three decades without a trial A New York City man has been shuffled between Rikers Island and mental hospitals for 32 years. George Joseph, Simon Davis-Cohen
