Statistics
What percentage of prison inmates in the United States suffer from a mental illness?
Over 50 percent of prison and jail inmates in the United States have a diagnosed mental illness.
Who was Cecil Clayton?
In 1972, a large splinter of wood pierced his skull.
It destroyed about 8% of his brain.
Doctors had to remove 20% of his frontal lobe.
What kinds of reforms in the state of Pennsylvania have been made to accommodate mentally ill inmates?
VERA Segregation Reduction Project, Out of Cell Options, Enhanced Classification and Treatment for Seriously Mentally Ill Offenders, Certified Peer Specialist Programs, and more appropriate actions for SMI offenders.
What are some of the most common mental illnesses in prison?
Depression, anxiety, substance use and psychotic disorders.
What happened to Cecil Clayton?
His mental health plummeted.
He checked himself into a mental hospital.
After a domestic disturbance between Clayton and is girlfriend, he killed a cop.
What has California done to try helping mentally ill citizens from ending up in prison?
Added a law allowing judges to dismiss criminal charges after the felon completes their treatment.
What percent of inmates do not recieve mental care while incarcerated?
66% of inmates do not get an mental health help during their incarceration.
What was Cecil’s trial like?
His lawyers said the damage made him mentally incompetent and therefore ineligible for capital punishment.
Missouri argued he understood why he was being executed and therefor was competent to face imprisonment.
What are mental health courts, and how many are there in the US?
Mental health courts provide an alternative to the traditional court system.
Problem-solving model and connecting defendants to a variety of rehabilitative services and support networks.
What are some long term effects of incarceration?
Post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, impaired decision making and anxiety.
What was the outcome of Clayton’s trial?
The Missouri Supreme Court ruled 4-3 to deny Clayton a mental competency hearing before his execution.
"Cecil Clayton had — literally — a hole in his head. Executing him without a hearing violated the Constitution, Missouri law and basic human dignity.”
What actions have been taken to prevent mental illnesses from progressing further while an inmate completes their sentence?
The DOC has partnered with advocacy groups and leading researchers in the field to come up with new ways of accommodating mental illness.
In addition, they created suicide prevention committees, trauma screening upon an inmate’s arrival, and establishing a newly created Office of Mental Health Advocates.