End the Solitary Confinement of the Incarcerated Mentally Ill.
End the Solitary Confinement of the Incarcerated Mentally Ill.
The Issue
Solitary Confinement, also known as "the hole", has become the asylum of the 21st Century. With state mental hospitals closing their doors all over the country and federal spending for the mentally ill dwindling, the de facto mental health facilities of our time are jails and prisons. There, the mentally ill, especially those with co-exsisting conditions of drug abuse, are written off as extreme social misfits. They slip through the cracks living in sub-standard conditions, most without family or friends to look after them from the outside. When they have episodes of mental illness, their only medication is solitary confinement where many are kept for months or even years. This results in the worsening of their condition and multiple attempts at suicide. We also ask the incarcerated mentally ill be given continuous treatment throughout their incarceration and beyond with periodic evaluations following their release. In 2006, the number of mentally ill inmates in the US was an estimated 1.25 million (Human Rights Watch). That number has grown exponetially. This is the first step to getting proper treatment for the incarcerated mentally ill. The criminalization of Mental Illness is both immoral and unconstitutional.

The Issue
Solitary Confinement, also known as "the hole", has become the asylum of the 21st Century. With state mental hospitals closing their doors all over the country and federal spending for the mentally ill dwindling, the de facto mental health facilities of our time are jails and prisons. There, the mentally ill, especially those with co-exsisting conditions of drug abuse, are written off as extreme social misfits. They slip through the cracks living in sub-standard conditions, most without family or friends to look after them from the outside. When they have episodes of mental illness, their only medication is solitary confinement where many are kept for months or even years. This results in the worsening of their condition and multiple attempts at suicide. We also ask the incarcerated mentally ill be given continuous treatment throughout their incarceration and beyond with periodic evaluations following their release. In 2006, the number of mentally ill inmates in the US was an estimated 1.25 million (Human Rights Watch). That number has grown exponetially. This is the first step to getting proper treatment for the incarcerated mentally ill. The criminalization of Mental Illness is both immoral and unconstitutional.

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Petition created on December 17, 2010
