Advocates Accuse Corrections Department Of Mistreating Prisoners With Mental Illness
(Associated Press)
March 14, 2013
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA– [Excerpt provided by Inclusion Daily Express] Hundreds of mentally-ill inmates in Pennsylvania languish for months and even years in isolated cells, according to a class-action lawsuit filed Monday that says the “Dickensian” practice only exacerbates their condition.
The federal lawsuit accuses state prison officials of punishing the mentally ill for head-banging, hallucinations and other psychotic behaviors instead of getting them needed medical care.
About one-third of the 2,400 inmates kept in restricted custody across the state suffer from serious mental-health problems, according to the suit. They spend 23 hours a day in small, windowless cells, and have little contact with other human beings.
A few have been held in solitary for more than a decade as punishment for various infractions, leading some to attempt suicide, advocates said.
“They don’t know what time it is, or what day it is. They have no feedback loop with reality,” said Robert W. Meek, a lead attorney with the Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania, which filed the suit in Harrisburg against the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.
Entire article:
Class-action lawsuit: Pennsylvania’s mentally ill inmates stuck in isolation
http://tinyurl.com/ide0314132a
Related:
Disability rights group sues over ‘cruel and unusual’ treatment of mentally ill state prison inmates (Patriot-News)
http://tinyurl.com/ide0314132b
Advocates sue PA Dept. of Corrections for treatment of mentally ill prisoners (Examiner)
http://tinyurl.com/ide0314132c
Planet of the Blind 