Jerome Murdough, 56, was a homeless Marine Corps veteran who was roasted to death at Riker's Island Jail in February 2014. No New York official or prison officials notified Murdough's family when he expired in a solitary confinement cell where the temperature was over 100 degrees. Murdough was in a section of the prison where inmates should be checked by the correctional officers every 15 minutes, but this was not done.
Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill (AIMI) will sponsor radio shows about Murdough's life and death and discuss how similarly situated Americans might be saved from what Murdough endured: numerous arrests, solitary confinement, homelessness, and avoidable death. Radio shows will be announced at this article. The general public is invited to call our radio programs during live broadcasts to share their viewpoints. Blogtalkradio links can access the live shows as well as recorded broadcasts that are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Sunday, March 23: "Human Rights for Prisoners March" on Human Rights Demand channel (3pm EST Sundays). Mary Neal discusses Jerome Murdough's demise and the secret arrest and wrongful death of Larry Neal, her mentally, physically disabled brother who also perished in jail. (347) 857-3293
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/humanrightsdemand/2014/03/23/human-rights-for-prisoners-march
Tuesday, March 25: "Dr. Ansari's Human Rights Updates" on Human Rights Demand channel (1pm EST Tuesdays). Dr. Mustafa is an international human rights attorney and dean of the American Institute of Human Rights. (347) 857-3293
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/humanrightsdemand/2014/03/25/dr-ansaris-human-rights-updates
Thursday, March 27: Mary Neal interviews Bob Darby, a former member and organizer of "Food Not Bombs," author, public speaker, and advocate for the homeless mentally ill. (3pm EST on Human Rights Demand channel). (347) 857-3293, A link will be provided.
Background information regarding Jerome Murdough's death is in the next article,
"Mentally Ill Marine Vet Baked at Riker's Island: AP Blew the Cover-up"
http://dogjusticeformentallyill.blogspot.com/2014/03/mentally-ill-marine-vet-baked-at-rikers.html
Jerome Murdough suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. He was presumably arrested for trespassing and vagrancy when he sought shelter from harsh winter weather on the roof of a building in Harlem. Murdough had endured numerous misdemeanor arrests in the past, as is common among acute mental patients from the working class whose mental illness is essentially untreated.
Murdough would ordinarily visit his family at least once every three months and sometimes more often. He is survived by his 76-year-old mother, a middle aged sister, and a host of other relatives and friends. Associated Press (AP) notified Murdough's family of his death three weeks after he died.
Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill recognizes that Murdough's avoidable death is a worst case scenario of what happens when mental illness is criminalized instead of treated like a chronic health condition. Acute mental illness requires continuous monitoring and treatment like heart disease and other physical ailments. Treatment is ordinarily withheld when persons with severe mental illness suffer from anosognosia, which prevents them from realizing they have mental illness. Families are not permitted to commit mentally ill relatives to inpatient psychiatric treatment facilities unless they proved to be an immediate danger to self and others. Even when there are suicide attempts or assaults on family members and others, the mentally ill are usually jailed instead of treated in mental hospitals.
Information about anosognosia is available at Treatment Advocacy Center
http://treatmentadvocacycenter.org/component/content/article/1790
Severe mental illness is a disability that affects many of the 1.25 million mentally challenged inmates in America's jails and prisons. They comprise more than 60 percent of the 80,000 inmates who are relegated to solitary confinement, which further erodes their mental health. It costs at least $168,000 per year to incarcerate each inmate in New York and more for people who require special services like Murdough. Treating the mentally ill in AOT programs, which mandate continuous psychiatric care and provide subsistence assistance, is more affordable and just.
Please join our radio discussions about Jerome Murdough and similarly situated people.
Mary Neal, director
Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill (AIMI)
http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/aimi
Dog Justice for Mentally Ill
http://dogjusticeformentallyill.blogspot.com
Wrongful Death of Larry Neal
http://WrongfulDeathofLarryNeal.com
Jerome Murdough suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. He was presumably arrested for trespassing and vagrancy when he sought shelter from harsh winter weather on the roof of a building in Harlem. Murdough had endured numerous misdemeanor arrests in the past, as is common among acute mental patients from the working class whose mental illness is essentially untreated.
Murdough would ordinarily visit his family at least once every three months and sometimes more often. He is survived by his 76-year-old mother, a middle aged sister, and a host of other relatives and friends. Associated Press (AP) notified Murdough's family of his death three weeks after he died.
Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill recognizes that Murdough's avoidable death is a worst case scenario of what happens when mental illness is criminalized instead of treated like a chronic health condition. Acute mental illness requires continuous monitoring and treatment like heart disease and other physical ailments. Treatment is ordinarily withheld when persons with severe mental illness suffer from anosognosia, which prevents them from realizing they have mental illness. Families are not permitted to commit mentally ill relatives to inpatient psychiatric treatment facilities unless they proved to be an immediate danger to self and others. Even when there are suicide attempts or assaults on family members and others, the mentally ill are usually jailed instead of treated in mental hospitals.
Information about anosognosia is available at Treatment Advocacy Center
http://treatmentadvocacycenter.org/component/content/article/1790
Severe mental illness is a disability that affects many of the 1.25 million mentally challenged inmates in America's jails and prisons. They comprise more than 60 percent of the 80,000 inmates who are relegated to solitary confinement, which further erodes their mental health. It costs at least $168,000 per year to incarcerate each inmate in New York and more for people who require special services like Murdough. Treating the mentally ill in AOT programs, which mandate continuous psychiatric care and provide subsistence assistance, is more affordable and just.
Please join our radio discussions about Jerome Murdough and similarly situated people.
Mary Neal, director
Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill (AIMI)
http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/aimi
Dog Justice for Mentally Ill
http://dogjusticeformentallyill.blogspot.com
Wrongful Death of Larry Neal
http://WrongfulDeathofLarryNeal.com
Paragraph 1 repeated: Jerome Murdough, 56, was a homeless Marine Corps veteran who was roasted to death at Riker's Island Jail in February 2014. No New York official or prison officials notified Murdough's family when he expired in a solitary confinement cell where the temperature was over 100 degrees. Murdough was in a section of the prison where inmates should be checked by the correctional officers every 15 minutes, but this was not done.
It would be illegal to keep a dog in a tight space 23 hours a day and gas or Taser him for barking. It would be illegal to put a dog into a deadly restraint chair for control. But this happens to mentally ill Americans routinely in the nation's jails and prisons. What happened to Larry Neal?
Mentally Ill Americans Need Dog Justice. Treat mental illness medically, not legally.
Advocate for U.S. Congress to pass H.R.3717 - Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act
