One in every 31 U.S. adults is in
the corrections system

The Justice system in the USA needs corrections. My son’s and my friend is a good example of why. After he got out of the county’s House of Correction a few years ago he came to live with us for a while. During that time I was getting into Growing Power, and he built the GP Home Model Box in the sun room and the worm box. He was doing well for quite a while, but eventually stopped taking proper medication and self medicated with alcohol. Sick, he started acting out (nothing serious, but enough to get him on probation), and then when he had a mental breakdown went to the mental health complex. However, as soon as he was established on medication the justice system sent him back to the House of Correction on a revocation of his probation.

The first thing they did at the country prison was to take away all the medication he had been given at the mental health hospital, and gave him other medicine that knocked him out but was not affective. When he mentioned this fact to health staff he was punished and thrown in the hole. Now he does not complain, but is not thinking straight as he sits on his bunk all day with nothing to do. He was so confused last week that when the Judge agreed to a plea to drop the charges and was going to sentence him on the spot he said no. Thus his sentencing date was postponed, his stay in jail extended and the opportunity to get mental health treatment delayed.

The County Sheriff does not really understand or appreciate issues of mental illness. In the country jail, where people with a mental illness are taken on even minor disorderly conduct charges, they are thrown into a padded isolation cell with a light on 24/7 and nothing to do. It is the worst possible condition for a person with a mental illness. The House of Corrections, which the Sheriff also operates, is the largest mental health facility in the county. In an effort to save money the Sheriff has cut back on all services, even food, and made prisoners pay for just about everything, even coffee and toothpaste.

Every time I have visited our friend I have met family and friends of other men in the House of Correction. They are of all ages and all races. The only thing they seem to have in common is that they are poor. The House of Correction might be the place to dump persons with mental illnesses, but not rich persons with mental illnesses.

At previous visits I had to wait in long lines, over an hour, just to get into the visiting area. Today I went early in the morning and there was a very short line. I got in the visiting booth I was assigned to right away. But my friend never appeared. I noticed the persons in the booths nearby were also waiting and waiting. Visitors expect to wait in line to get in, but once in the visiting area it has usually been just a short time before the inmate appeared on the other side of the glass wall. Today we waited over an hour and half for the sheriff deputies to get our family and friends into visiting booths. The last time I went with my son to visit our friend, we waited over an hour in line only to get to the front and be told we could not visit since the one other person who visits him had been there that day (inmates get only one visit a day, two a week). Today I thought I would beat the system by going early. But I did not. There seems to be no way to beat the justice system, even when you are trying to do something good.

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