Here are the Facts ...

Shocking Facts re Incarceration in the U. S.

By their mid-thirties, six in 10 black men who had dropped out of school had been in prison.

Drug Charges

Over 1,8 million people were arrested on a drug charge in the U.S. in 2008 alone -- 1.4 million of them for possession, not sales, manufacturing or trafficking.

Nearly half of all drug arrests in 2008 were for a marijuana violation.

Recidivism Rates in California Prisons

California routinely orders near-universal drug testing for parolees, Because two-thirds of them have substance abuse histories, and because few receive any treatment while in prison, parolees invariably fail the tests and return to prison. In all, nearly two-thirds of parolees are sent back to prison because of similar technical violations, not because they were convicted of a new crime.Read more

Costs of Substance Abuse Cost of Incarceration

Estimates of the total overall costs of substance abuse in the United States—including health- and crime-related costs as well as losses in productivity—exceed half a trillion dollars annually. This includes approximately $181 billion for illicit drugs,1 $168 billion for tobacco,2 and $185 billion for alcohol.3

Cost of Incarceration

In 2007, the 50 states spent $44 billion on corrections. Office of National Drug Control Policy requested $15.5 billion in drug war expenditures or FY11.

Suicide Rates in California

Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in California. Every year approximately 3,300 Californians lose their lives to suicide; more suicide deaths are reported in our state than deaths caused by homicides. On average, nine Californians die by suicide every day. Suicide and suicidal behaviors occur among all age groups and across all socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic backgrounds. Read more

Factors Associated with Increased Suicide Risk

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, as many as 90 percent of individuals who died by suicide had a diagnosable mental illness or substance abuse disorder. Certain psychiatric diagnoses increase the risk of suicide substantially, such as major depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse exacerbate the risk of suicide.

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation data indicate that suicide is the third leading cause of death in California’s prisons. Nationally, more than half of all inmates in the criminal justice system have a mental illness; this rate is three times that of the general population.1

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) estimates that there are 1,000 suicides per year among veterans receiving care through the VA health care system and as many as 5,000 per year among all veterans.

Many individuals who are homeless meet many of the criteria for elevated suicide risk, such as untreated mental illness, social isolation, poverty, and substance abuse. Studies have found that individuals who are homeless for longer than six months may be at particularly high risk. 2

Specific immigrant and refugee populations face additional issues pertaining to acculturation, family and intergenerational conflict, and access to culturally and linguistically appropriate mental health services.

Overdose Statistics

The dramatic rise in the incidence of death from accidental overdose is a hidden crisis in the U.S.

Accidental overdose took more lives last year than firearms, drownings and accidental falls combined.

Accidental drug overdose deaths from alcohol, cocaine, heroin, prescription painkillers and other drugs are now second only to motor vehicle crashes as a leading cause of preventable accidental death.

According to a report from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS):

More than 22,400 people died following an accidental drug overdose in 2005, the last year for which data are available.

By comparison, just over 17,000 homicides occurred in the same year. {National Vital Statistics Report 54 (19 April 2006): 5, Table C.}

Nationally, accidental drug overdose deaths increased more than 400 percent between 1980 and 1999 and more than

doubled between 1999 and 2005. Overdose is the number one injury-related killer among adults ages 35-54.

Between 1999 and 2006:

Deaths from the use of opioid pain relievers more than tripled in the U.S., from 4,000 in 1999 to 13,800 in 2006.

40% of all poisoning deaths in 2006 in the U.S. involved opioid painkillers.

The number of poisoning deaths involving methadone increased from 790 to 5,430 (over sevenfold) during this period.

The opioid death rate was highest for whites, males, and people between the ages of 35 and 54.

Between 1999 and 2002 the number of overdose death certificates that mention poisoning by opioid pain killers went up by 91.2%. While the pain killer category showed the greatest increase, death certificates pointing a finger of blame at heroin and cocaine also increased by 12.4% and 22.8% respectively.

“The Increase from 1999 to 2004 [in drug overdose deaths] was driven largely by opioid analgesics, with a smaller contribution from cocaine, and essentially no contribution from heroin. By 2004 opioid painkiller deaths numbered more than the total of deaths involving heroin and cocaine…” Len Paulozzi, CDC Medical Epidemiologist, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The increase in methadone deaths corresponds to the drug's increased use for pain relief, which began abruptly in 1999, says Nicholas Reuter, a public health analyst who has been tracking methadone use and deaths fro the Substance Abuse and mental health Services Administration.

Increased concerns about the abuse potential of the pain reliever OxyContin adn the desire for a relatively inexpensice long-acting opioid painkiller led to the shift in methadone use.

Methadone stays in the system as long as 59 hours. Patients may feel they need more pain relief before the drug is cleared from the body, and if taken too often or at doses that are too high, toxic levels can build up, which can lead to life-treatening changes in breathing and heart function.

Last year, 750,000 methadone prescriptions were written for pain relief, but only 250,000 people were treated with the drug for addiction to heroin and other opioids, according to Reuter.

At least half of the reported opioid-related deaths involved other drugs, including heroin or cocaine in 15% of cases and benzodiazepines such as Xanax and Valium in 17% of cases.

Mental Illness Rates Among American Youth

Rates of bipolar diagnosis in American youth have jumped 40-Fold over the last decade Read more

Recent date suggests a 10-fold increase in autism rates over the past decadeRead more

According to the American Association of Suicidology,iIn 2005, suicide ranked as the third leading cause of death for young people (ages 15-19 and 15-24); only accidents and homicides occurred more frequently. In the past 60 years, thesuicide rate has quadrupled for males 15 to 24 years old, and has doubled for females of the same age (CDC, 2002)

In 2009 Gary Null stated that suicide was the number one cause of death among 10 to 14 year old boys in America..

5 million adolescents suffer from clinical depression. According to a 2009 study, an estimated 70 percent are undiagnosedand do not receive any form of treatment. Statistics for drug and alcohol abuse are worse. 10 percent of the 1.4 million American teens with substance abuse problems get treatment…” read the article here. Material obtained from “The Drug and Alcohol Scene”

Mental Illness and The Criminal Justice System

In 2006 about two-thirds of the nation’s 92,854 juvenile inmates had at least one mental illness.

Approximately 5 percent of the population has a serious mental illness.[1] The US Department of Justice reports, however, that about 16 percent of the population in prison or jail has a mental illness.[2]

On average, inmates with mental illness serve a longer portion of their sentence than inmates without mental illness. On Riker’s Island, New York City’s largest jail, the average length of stay for all offenders is 42 days; it is 215 days for inmates with a serious mental illness. [3]

The public and the media often associate mental illness and the criminal justice system with pleas of not guilty by reason of insanity (or under new state laws, a conviction of guilty but insane). A small fraction of defendants with mental illness make such pleas. A 1996 study of the Baltimore Circuit Court estimated that of 60,342 indictments filed during one year, only 8 defendants (.013 percent) ultimately pleaded not criminally responsible. All 8 pleas were uncontested by the state. [4]

Estimates of the number of mentally ill inmates vary widely. According to one study, people with mental health problems comprise 50% of those who are incarcerated. Another study estimates that there are 1.25 million mentally ill in jails and prisons, which is 30 times more than the 40,000 Americans in psychiatric hospitals. (E. Fuller Torrey, author of The Insanity Offense)

Lack of Treatment/Counseling

* Based on SAMHSA's 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, less than half of adults with a serious mental illness (SMI) received treatment or counseling for a mental health problem during the past year.

* Among adults with a serious mental illness, whites were more likely than blacks or Hispanics to have received treatment or counseling during the past year.

* The rate of unmet treatment need among adults with SMI who did not receive mental health treatment or counseling in the past year was higher among persons aged 18 to 49 than those aged 50 or older. The unmet need also was higher for females than for males.

Incarceration Rates

Four times as many mentally ill people are in prisons than in mental health hospitals. (U.S. Senator Jim Webb: http://webb.senate.gov/email/criminaljusticereform.html)

One in 99.3 American adults is behind bars! ... Read more

1 in 18 men is under correctional control, 1 in 11 African Americans, 1 in 27 Hispanics! Read More

The racial disparity for women also is stark. One of every 355 white women aged 35 to 39 is behind bars, compared with one of every 100 black women in that age group.

35-40% of all those arrested in relation to marijuana are African American Watch You Tube Video

The nationwide figures, as of Jan. 1, include 1,596,127 people in state and federal prisons and 723,131 in local jails. That's out of almost 230 million American adults.

The United States incarcerates more people than any other nation, far ahead of more populous China with 1.5 million people behind bars. It said the U.S. also is the leader in inmates per capita (750 per 100,000 people), ahead of Russia (628 per 100,000) and other former Soviet bloc nations which round out the Top 10.

About 3.2% of the U.S. adult population, or 1 in every 31 adults, were incarcerated or on probation or parole at year end 2006. Read more

1 in 9 black men between the ages of 20 and 34 are behind bars

Drug Charges

1 in 9 Black men between the ages of 20 and 34 are behind bars.

In 1980, there were about 40,000 people in American jails and prisons for drug crimes. These days, there are almost 500,000 (55% of the population of fedderal prisons and 21% of those in state prisons. Three quarters of prisoners locked up on drug-related charges are black. (The Economist April 4th 2009)

Those imprisoned for drug offenses rose from 10% of the inmate population to approximately 33% between 1984 and 2002.

47.5% of all the drug arrests in our country in 2007 were for marijuana offenses.

Nearly 60% of the people in state prisons serving time for a drug offense had no history of violence or of any significant selling activity.

Four out of five drug arrests were for possession of illegal substances, while only one out of five was for sales.

Three-quarters of the drug offenders in our state prisons were there for nonviolent or purely drug offenses.

Although experts have found little statistical difference among racial groups regarding actual drug use, African-Americans--who make up about 12% of the total U.S. population--accounted for 37% of those arrested on drug charges, 59% of those convicted, and 74% of all drug offenders sentenced to prison.

Since 1980, the number of women imprisoned in the U.S. has risen by almost 400 percent.

Marijuana Arrests in California

Since 1990, low-level marijuana arrests have skyrocketed in California. While arrests for all

offenses fell 40% between 1990 and 2008, misdemeanor marijuana possession arrests jumped

by an astronomical 127%, from 20,800 in 1990 to 61,400 in 2008.2

• In 1990 marijuana possession accounted for just 8% of all arrests in California, but nearly 25% of

all arrests in 2008.3

• Marijuana arrests (misdemeanors and felonies) have increased by almost 25% since 2005 alone,

to almost 75,000 in 2007.4 Of these, four out of five were for simple possession and nearly one in

four were children under the age of 18.5

Violent Crime down 50% in 15 years.

Disenfranchisement: America is one of only a handlful of countries that bar prisoners from voting, and in some states than ban is lifelong: 2% of American adults are disenfranchised because of criminal convictions. Read more

Our State Prison System:

We spent $68 billiion in 2008 on state corrections.

California operates 33 state prisons and other facilities that had a combined adult inmate population of about 171,000 as of May 2008. The costs to operate the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) in 2008+09 are estimated to be approximately $10 billion. The average annual cost to incarcerate an inmate is estimated to be about $46,000.

The state prison system is currently experiencing overcrowding because there are not enough permanent beds available for all inmates. As a result, gymnasiums and other rooms have been converted to house some inmates.

The total number of drug offenders in state prisons increased to 253,300 in 2005 from 251,200 in 1999.

In 2007 Santa Barbara's Sheriff's Blue Ribbon Commission to address jail overcrowding found that 85% of the inmates struggled with substance abuse while 29% were dealing with mental illness. It recommended that we shift our focus to prevention and treatment.

The size and cost of America’s prison system has skyrocketed during the last few decades, largely as a result of laws and policies that put more offenders behind bars and keep them there longer. Yet recidivism rates remain stubbornly high, and crime still is a major public concern.

State policy makers across the nation are asking whether soaring prison budgets are the best path to public safety. Increasingly, they are finding the answer is “No.” Read More

Half of Federal Inmates are locked up for drug-related crimes.

Vast sentencing disparities between possession of powdered cocaine and rock cocaine, an inequity that civil rights groups say has affected poor and minority defendants disproportionately. The sentencing inequality has come to be known as the "100 to 1" ratio, in which possession of five grams of crack, the weight of two small sugar cubes, triggers a mandatory five-year prison term, while a person carrying 500 grams of powder cocaine would receive the same sentence. Read More

In 2007 82 percent of people convicted on crack possession charges were black, and 9 percent were white.

More than 2/3 of California parolees return to prison within 3 years: 39% of these for "technical violations" such as failed drug tests or missing an appointment with a parole officer.

Incidence of Substance Abuse

In 2006, 23.6 million persons aged 12 or older needed treatment for an illicit drug or alcohol use problem (9.6 percent of the persons aged 12 or older). Of these, 2.5 million (10.8 percent of those who needed treatment) received treatment at a specialty facility. Thus, 21.2 million persons (8.6 percent of the population aged 12 or older) needed treatment for an illicit drug or alcohol use problem but did not receive it. These estimates are similar to the estimates for 2005.*

Costs of Substance Abuse

1 Office of National Drug Control Policy. The Economic Costs of Drug Abuse in the United States: 1992-2002. Washington, DC: Executive Office of the President (Publication No. 207303), 2004.

2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Annual Smoking–Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Productivity Losses — United States, 1997–2001. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 54(25):625–628, July 1, 2005.

3 Harwood, H. Updating Estimates of the Economic Costs of Alcohol Abuse in the United States: Estimates, Update Methods, and Data Report. Prepared by the Lewin Group for the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2000.

U.S. Veterans Read More

Approximately 30 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans report symptoms of PTSD, TBI,

depression, or other mental illness or cognitive

disability.20

19 percent of current conflict veterans who have received VA care have been diagnosed with

substance abuse or dependence.21

75 percent of Vietnam combat veterans with PTSD met criteria for substance abuse or dependence in

a national study.22

Veterans do not qualify for substance abuse disability benefits unless they also have PTSD.23

Veterans in Prison, as of 2004*

140,000 veterans were incarcerated in state and federal prisons.

46 percent of veterans in federal prison were incarcerated for drug law violations.

15 percent of veterans in state prison were incarcerated for drug law violations, including

5.6 percent for simple possession.

More than 25 percent of veterans in prison were intoxicated at the time of their arrest.

61 percent of incarcerated veterans met the DSM-IV criteria for substance dependence or abuse.

More than half of veterans in federal (64 percent) and state prisons (54 percent) served during wartime.

26 percent of veterans in federal prison and 20 percent in state prison served in combat.

38 percent of veterans in state prison received less than an honorable discharge, which may disqualify them for VA benefits.

Source: United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Veterans in State and Federal Prison 2004 1,4,5, 6,11 (May 2007)

The Inefficacy of Jail Sentences

Short jail sentences for participants who relapse during treatment are a central and common

practice of most drug courts.1 The efficacy of jail sanctions (as opposed to non-jail sanctions) is not

supported by research evidence.2 Moreover, the harms posed by jail are manifest: drugs, risky

drug-taking behaviors, infectious diseases, violence, and stress are endemic to the nation’s

jails. 132 Drug addiction is a chronic, relapsing medical condition—drug relapse is expected, and

its treatment should be therapeutically based.133 In short, jail sanctions—even short term—are

unlikely to help and may compromise the physical and mental health of veterans.134

Accordingly, incarceration should play no role in efforts to provide substance abuse or mental

health treatment;135 indeed, “each instance of incarceration may actually increase the likelihood

of future incarcerations.” 1

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

America’s Problem-Solving Courts: The Criminal Costs of

Treatment and the Case for Reform (2009) : 11-12. <

www.nacdl.org/drugcourts>.

Legal Action Center.; See also, Council of State

Governments. Reentry Policy Council. Report of the Re-

Entry Policy Council: Charting the Safe and Successful Return

of Prisoners to the Community. (January 2005)

<http://reentrypolicy.org/Report/About>; Hirsch, Amy

E., Dietrich, Sharon M., Landau, Rue, Schneider, Peter D.,

Ackelsberg, Irv, Bernstein-Baker, Judith, and Hohenstein,

Joseph. Every Door Closed: Barriers Facing Parents with

Criminal Records. Center for Law and Social Policy (2002).

****

Historical Perspective

from: http://www.prisonpolicy.org/scans/menbrief.html

FROM PRISONS TO HOSPITALS - AND BACK :THE CRIMINALIZATION OF MENTAL ILLNESS

I. Overview

Two hundred years ago, American jails were commonly used to house seriously mentally ill citizens. The inhumanity of that system led advocates in the 1800’s to undertake reforms in the care of the mentally ill. Modern mental hospitals run by State governments evolved in mid-20^th century America with the promise of professional medical treatment and rehabilitation.

Dramatic shifts in state psychiatric and penal populations have occurred in the last 20 years. For example, in the early 1970’s, Michigan’s mental institutions held about 28,000 patients, while its prisons held 8,000. Today there are less than 3,000 patients in Michigan mental hospitals, while the state’s prisons hold more than 45,000 inmates. (1)

Nationally, state mental hospital populations peaked at 559,000 persons, in 1955. (2)

By contrast, 70,000 individuals with severe mental illnesses are housed in public psychiatric hospitals today, 30% of whom are forensic patients referred by the courts.(3)

In the 1990’s, it has become common once again to find the mentally ill in jails and prisons: The federal Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), in a 1998 survey, found that 238,800 mentally ill individuals are incarcerated in U.S. jails and prisons.(4) The study indicates that overall, "nearly a third of all inmates reported they had a current mental condition or had received mental health services at some time." Some mental health experts say the number is probably higher, due to under-reporting by people who don’t disclose the information or are unaware of their illness.(5)

II. Factors in the migration from hospitals to jail.

The advent of psychotropic drugs in the 1950’s and 60’s, along with growing litigation over poor conditions and abuses in the hospitals, paved the way for states to release, or "deinstitutionalize," large numbers of patients, some of whom had been institutionalized for most of their lives. This plan held great promise for reinstating community membership with appropriate supports for released patients. Often, however, the financial burden and the search for services fell upon families. Today, implementation of comprehensive, coordinated community mental health systems is still far from a reality in most local jurisdictions. This situation is widely seen as contributing to the criminalization of the mentally ill.

State spending lags far behind the need. While the massive shift of mentally ill individuals from mental hospitals to prisons and jails was never intended by criminal justice or mental health officials, its continuation represents a significant failure by these systems. According to the

Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, total state spending for treatment of the seriously mentally ill is one third less now than in the 1950’s.(6)

III. Criminalization of the mentally ill is costly.

In Florida, mentally ill individuals in jail and prison outnumber those in state mental hospitals by nearly five to one. Minimum care for one mentally ill person for one year in a Florida jail costs $40,000; one year in a state prison cell costs over $60,000 per mentally ill inmate, while intensive community mental health treatment for an individual costs approximately $20,000 per year. (7)

Nationally, state correctional costs per U.S. resident are increasing faster than costs for education and health. Annual costs per resident for prisons doubled from $53 in 1985 to $103 in 1996. State correctional spending increased at twice the rate of State education spending.(8) Among the reasons for increased costs (more lengthy, mandatory sentences, abolition of parole in a number of states, excessive use of incarceration for less serious drug offenses), is the increasing criminalization of the mentally ill, particularly at the state and local level. For example, the Los Angeles County jail system has been characterized as the largest mental health institution in the nation. Probation systems are also impacted. The BJS survey counted 547,800 mentally ill probationers - 16% of the entire U.S. probation caseload.

Overall criminal justice resources are strained when police, courts, probation and correctional staff are poorly equipped to cope with issues presented by mentally ill offenders. Training and collaboration with mental health agencies can improve and streamline justice system responses.

IV. Multiple problems complicate effective service delivery.

The BJS survey found that mentally ill offenders in State prison had experienced an array of serious problems prior to incarceration:

Mentally ill offenders in State prisons were twice as likely as other inmates to have been homeless during the year prior to their arrest.
Forty percent had been unemployed.
More than a third showed signs of alcohol dependence – nearly half said they were binge drinkers and 17% had lost a job due to drinking.
Approximately 6 in 10 mentally ill offenders reported they were under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of their offense.

Underserved populations. The so-called "dual diagnosis" population with substance abuse problems as well as mental illness is considered "hard to serve" and is chronically underserved in most communities. This population is considered to be more at risk of violent behavior than mentally ill individuals who are not substance abusers.(9) Some providers are unwilling or unable to work with this more difficult type of individual. Hospital emergency rooms, homeless shelters and jails are often used as "de facto" service centers for troubled, indigent and vulnerable mentally ill individuals. An overloaded system and the lack of adequate health coverage for mental illnesses have severely impacted many individuals’ access to treatment.
V. Sentencing Policy Increasingly Lacks Discretion, Inhibits Problem Solving Approach.
Over the last 20 years, as sentencing reforms such as mandatory minimums have given judges less leeway in sentencing, an increasing number of mentally ill individuals have been sentenced to prisons and jails. By eliminating consideration of the factors contributing to crime, and by limiting the range of community-based sentencing options, these policies may inhibit a judicial problem-solving approach that could lead to more appropriate dispositions. The sentencing process should aim to reduce unnecessary incarceration, reserving costly prison space for those who endanger the community.
Alternatives are Often More Effective and Less Costly than Jail. Reduced discretion in sentencing offenders, many of whom are addicted and/or mentally ill, has driven up incarceration rates for these individuals. Many are repeatedly "recycled" through local jails. In response, a fast-growing "drug court" movement has evolved to provide treatment and supervision as an alternative to incarceration for certain drug offenders. More recently, a number of local jurisdictions have created community-based "mental health courts" to provide similar alternatives for mentally ill offenders. Unnecessary use of costly jail and prison resources can be reduced by establishing a range of effective options, including local diversion programs that help defuse crisis situations and ensure that a disturbed mentally ill person will receive evaluation, treatment and referrals as needed.
Provision of essential services can prevent problems that lead to crime and violence. For those who commit serious crimes of violence, public safety concerns may dictate that a mentally ill person should be treated in a secure psychiatric ward or, if necessary, confined to jail and provided appropriate treatment. It should be recognized, however, that some individuals who have committed serious crimes might not have done so had they been receiving adequate and appropriate mental health treatment. Upon release from hospital or jail, follow-up treatment and supervision are essential. Individualized client services can prevent crises that result in crime, and break the "vicious cycle" between jail and the streets.
VI. Prison and Jail: Not a Solution for the Mentally Ill
The classic purposes of incarceration are punishment, deterrence and rehabilitation. Incarceration is intrinsically punishing. It exacerbates symptoms and distress for most mentally ill inmates. The practice of solitary confinement in "supermax" security facilities is devastating to mentally ill inmates (and to many others), and has been condemned by human rights groups.
For deterrence to work, a person must be motivated and capable of avoiding a return trip to jail. Released with minimal provision for treatment and services in the community, many mentally ill individuals are caught in "the revolving door" between jail and the streets. Rehabilitation in jail may be undermined by the harshness and stress of prison life and the lack of adequate mental health care. Subject to abuse and victimization by other inmates and to punishment for breaking the rules, many vulnerable inmates attempt or accomplish suicide. Diversion from the justice system to appropriate treatment and supervision is a far more humane and effective approach to reducing and preventing crime by mentally ill individuals. These citizens deserve the best efforts of mental health and criminal justice systems to remove barriers to treatment, provide other essential services, and end unnecessary criminalization of the mentally ill.
References:

1. "Correct Care," A Publication of the National Commission on Correctional Health Care. (Volume 13, Issue 3, Summer1999, p.1)
2. Lamb, H. Richard, M.D. and Linda E. Weinberger, Ph.D., "Persons With Severe Mental Illness in Jails and Prisons: A Review," Psychiatric Services, April 1998, Vol.49, No.4.
3. "CorrectCare," A Publication of the National Commission on Correctional Health Care. (Volume 13, Issue 3, Summer 1999, p.1)
4. "Mental Health and Treatment of Inmates and Probationers," Bureau of Justice Statistics, Department of Justice, July 1999
5. "Experts Say Study Confirms Prison’s New Role as Mental Hospital," Fox Butterfield, The New York Times, July 12, 1999.
6. The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, 1999.
7. "Society Criminalizes Their Mental Illness," Debbie Salamone Wickham, The Orlando Sentinel, October 31,1999
8. "State Prison Expenditures, 1996," U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice 9. Statistics, August 1999.
Lamb, H.Richard, M.D. and Linda E.Weinberger, Ph.D., "Persons With Severe Mental Illness in Jails and Prisons: A Review," Psychiatric Services, April 1998, Vol. 49, No.4

Prop 5 Failed, but the Issues Remain

Although Proposition 5 on the Nov. 2008 ballet failed to be approved, the initiative addressed key issues for the Dually Diagnosed