James Kilgore: Mental Illness and Jails

An article was published by James Kilgore, writing in Prisoner News, which laid out problems caused by criminalizing mental illness in the USA. The writer got my complete attention with his statement that "no Dorothea Dix figure has emerged in 2015." This implies that decision makers have begun to reconsider the wrongful denial of timely mental health treatment and incarceration of over a million sick Americans on their own, when nothing could be further from the truth. I wrote Kilgore and informed him of the tremendous effort by over 1,400 members of Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill (AIMI) and other organizations, courageous families, and prisoner activists to decriminalize mental illness. Like any other chronic ailment, mental conditions must be treated and stop being considered criminal. Homelessness, prison, and death must cease being America's response to serious mental illness. See my response to Kilgore below:

Mr. Kilgore:

Thank you for your article regarding prisons replacing treatment for mental illness in the USA. You wrote, "Though no Dorothea Dix figure has emerged in 2015, at long last policy makers and researchers are waking up to the issue." The idea that prison investors and other decision makers would simply "wake up" to an issue is not true. Through much censorship and intimidation, my advocacy organization continues to fight to highlight the problems of mentally ill people and their families for the past ten years. See "Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill," a/k/a "The Dorothea Dix Group." We have been operating for ten years online and less in person. In 2003, my brother, Larry Neal, a lifelong mentally ill heart patient, was secretly arrested and murdered on the 18th day of secret incarceration in Memphis Shelby County Jail in Tennessee. The disregard for this black man from his government was so total that to this day - nearly 12 years later, his family is still denied the right to know under what circumstances he died and why he was arrested. In fact, because Larry died in custody in a jail that was already under federal overview after lawsuit by the USA, the USDOJ is actually involved in his murder cover-up rather than attempting to bring justice. See http://WrongfulDeathofLarryNeal.com/main.html and visit our blog "Dog Justice for Mentally Ill" at the first of six (6) AIMI urls below.

Through thousands of very graphic articles, emails, and radio broadcasts featuring psychologists, psychiatrists, and families of abused and murdered mentally ill inmates, AIMI continues to make torturous incarceration and wrongful deaths of mentally ill people impossible for any official to ignore. This causes great discomfort for both officials and myself, as my computer equipment is continually compromised or destroyed, my phone calls are often prevented, and messages are stolen from my voice mail service and my email boxes. We take these attacks as compliments to the work that we do at Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill (AIMI). 

No effective human rights movement has ever experienced decision makers "waking up to the issue" and showing a willingness to change. That did not happen regarding slavery, women's suffrage, the labor movement, nor the civil rights era. Any change you applaud regarding attitudes about mentally ill people having a right of treatment rather than incarceration must be credited to Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill, Mental Health Policy Organization, Treatment Advocacy Center, and many other fine advocates and prisoner rights activists and tenacious family members who continually strive against forces who profit from the arrests of Americans with mental disabilities. Most do this advocacy work with little or no budgets. AIMI is the only one of those named that deals exclusively with incarcerated mentally ill people and reducing the risks of incarceration through timely treatment - either in mental hospitals or community care, depending on the patient's offenses and ability to survive outside of a controlled environment. That is why our group is also called "The Dorothea Dix Group."

AIMI recommends H.R. 2646, "Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis," a mental health care bill introduced in Congress in 2015 by Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) and Rep. Eddie Murphy (D-TX), and the bill enjoys bilateral support from numerous congresspersons. More exposure for this important bill is needed. Please mention it in your next article regarding mental health care. We applaud the fact that the U.S. Congress recently appropriated $15million for assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) programs, which were certified by the USDOJ a few years ago but not funded. We believe that America's response to its mental health care crisis should be AOT programs (subsistence assistance and mandated treatment) and crisis intervention team (CIT) training for police and corrections officers, so they will learn how to deal with mentally ill people, of whom 1.25 million are prisoners. Furthermore, HIPPA laws should be relaxed for close family members of mentally ill people confined behind bars or in hospitals so that families and advocates will know their conditions and treatment to better advocate for their appropriate care. 

Thank you for helping to call attention to the issues faced by the mentally ill behind bars. I hope you will relay information about the tremendous effort of advocates and families of the mentally ill in your future articles so the world will understand that "power concedes nothing without a demand; it never has, and it never will" (Frederick Douglass). In fact, AIMI plans to sue the USA in International Court in 2015 on behalf of up to 100 mentally ill people and families who suffered brutality and wrongful deaths of mental patients. We invite you to call-in and participate on our Wednesday night AIMI broadcasts at Blogtalkradio at 9pmPST. Dial (818)572.2947, if you can schedule the time. 

We feel that nothing helps officials "wake up" like lawsuits. Dorothea Dix was a plaintiff in numerous lawsuits on behalf of the incarcerated mentally ill during her advocacy. Whereas the indigent mentally ill were regularly warehoused in brutal jail environments before Ms. Dix began her work, fewer than one percent of America's inmates were mentally ill persons by the time she retired. One reason for her success was that there were no private prison owners and investors serving on the state legislatures in the 1800's when Dix petitioned officials to change. We work to make mental health care reform a campaign issue in 2016. Officials should declare their stance on the human rights abuse of imprisoning Americans with mental disabilities. Examination should be made of stock portfolios and political contributions to officials who do not support H.R.2646 "Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act" in order to learn which officials are prison investors and receive contributions from private prison companies. We believe that private prison investors should divest or resign.

Now you know the truth. There is "a Dorothea Dix figure" which has emerged in the 21st century, and we are many. Hear radio broadcasts and see blogs carrying hundreds of articles around these issues at the six urls below. Most of the articles carry graphic photographs, videos, and interviews about brutality and wrongful deaths:

Dog Justice for Mentally Ill
http://DogJusticeforMentallyIll.blogspot.com
Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill 
(AIMI)~AIMI vs. USA in International Court 2015 
http://AIMI-HumanRights.blogspot.com
~Care2 (340+ members) 
http://www.care2.com/group/aimi
(AIMI's Mission Statement is in AIMI at Care2's "Welcome") 
~Google+ (100+members) 
https://plus.google.com/communities/108448922585036678747
~Facebook (1,030+ members) 
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Assistance-to-the-Incarcerated-Mentally-Ill/295716950438625
~Blogtalkradio (Wednesdays, 9pm Pacific, (818)572-2947)  
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nnia1

Read James Kilgore's article at this url:
http://www.truth-out.org/op-ed/item/31762-mental-illness-and-jails-race-is-left-out-of-the-equation

James Kilgore is a writer, activist and educator based in Urbana, Illinois. He writes widely on issues of mass incarceration and social justice. His latest book, Understanding Mass Incarceration: A People's Guide to the Key Civil Rights Struggle of Our Time, will be released by The New Press in September. He can be contacted at waazn1@gmail.com, @waazn1 or www.freedomneverrests.com. Questions and comments may be sent to claude@freedomarchives.org

Thank you for giving Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill. 

Mary Neal's Google+ - https://plus.google.com/+MaryLovesJustice/posts - Follow me at Twitter @koffietime - http://twitter.com/koffietime - Current, urgent justice issues from a laywoman's viewpoint at my primary blog http://FreeSpeakBlog.blogspot.com Full list of MaryLovesJustice blogs and radio broadcasts: http://marylovesjustice.blogspot.com/2014/03/marylovesjustice-blogs-and-radio-shows.html email address:  MaryLovesJustice@gmail.com (I'm censored, but some emails reach my box). Try to phone me at (678)531.0262 or (571)335-1741. If you receive no response within 48 hours, please email or call again.

Mary Neal https://about.me/marylovesjustice

Cop Murders: Blame the System

Some blame the president, New York's mayor, the protesters, and even the black men and boys who were murdered by the police and vigilantes. We should blame the broken mental health system for Ismaaiyl Brinsley shooting his girlfriend, two police officers, then himself. Condolences to all grieving families.

Brinsley had been arrested numerous times and was recognized to have mental illness. Tragedies can be avoided when troubled inmates are released only under programs that include mental health treatment. We can help New York State prisoners with mental illness get better discharge plans by supporting S7818/ A10071 "The Prisoners Mental Health Discharge and Planning Bill.”

The bill passed the New York State Assembly and Senate, but Gov. Cuomo has to sign it for it to become law. The bill makes sure prisoners with mental illness who are being released are given a discharge plan, an appointment with a community program, and enough medications to last until the appointment. It also adds parole officials to the list of people who can refer someone with a mental illness to a hospital for evaluation. This will help reduce reincarceration, says mental health expert, Dj Jaffe, director of the Mental Illness Policy Organization.

Ismaaiyl Brinsley's face is not the one that should be applied to the nation's righteous protests against police violence. Hundreds of dead men and boys and thousands of nonviolent protesters of all races who stand together and say "All lives matter" should remain the focus of the movement for greater police accountability. 

More than half the victims of police violence are mentally ill people like my brother Larry Neal was when he was secretly arrested for 18 days and murdered while in Shelby County Jail in Memphis, Tennessee (see the website below). Even as we mourn the loss of police officers and hundreds of citizens killed in police-related incidents, Milwaukee alerted the National Guard prior to releasing the indictment decision for another mentally ill man who was slain by police. The Free Thought Project reports "Protests have intensified in Milwaukee as the community anxiously awaits the district attorney’s decision on whether or not to indict a former officer Christopher Manney who shot Dontre Hamilton 14 times, including once in the back, on April 30."  Read more >> http://bit.ly/1AXue7h (See the full link below).

Clearly, unjustifiable deadly force by police is a major problem in the United States that must be exposed and opposed for the sake of the lives that should not have been taken and the continued peace in our society. The appropriate response is not cop killings such as those done by Ismaaiyl Brinsley, a mentally ill man. And blaming politicians and community organizers for protests against the lack of police accountability will not resolve the problem. This is the time for our officials over government to take bold, decisive action to protect the lives of everyone who is at risk because of overzealous policing. Suggestions are:

1) All police officers should undergo psychological evaluations, drug testing, and thorough background checks before hiring. Maintain a database on all police officers who were terminated because of inappropriate conduct. Police officers who have been fired because of substantiated complaints by citizens citing harassment and overuse of force should be ineligible for rehire by any other police department or in any capacity that requires the personnel to carry a firearm.

2) Conduct unscheduled drug testing for police departments periodically, and test every officer immediately after his/her involvement in violent incidents. Steroids cause brain damage and aggression, and should be included in the drug tests for police officers.

3) Hold police officers accountable to the same standards that prosecutors would apply to other citizens when they become criminal suspects. Police officers who become criminal defendants should pay for their legal defense using their own personal resources or use public defenders. In no case should police defendants' legal defense fund include taxpayers' funds beyond the monies already appropriated to make public defenders available to defendants who cannot afford an attorney.

4) The U.S. Congress passed a bill requiring an accurate count of all people in America who are killed by police and who die in custody, regardless of the cause of death. The data reported will include the name, age, race, and gender of each victim, and information about the death. Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill (AIMI) holds that an additional category must be whether or not the victim had a documented diagnosis of mental illness and/or history of substance abuse. It has been stated that the database will be used to assess information on race-based killings. The government not only has the responsibility to protect Americans of diverse races but also a responsibility to protect Americans with mental disabilities, which has been largely overlooked. Therefore, the bill for data collection from police departments should be amended to add an entry for mental illness before the president signs it into law.

5) To reduce the violence to and by mentally ill Americans, the nation should immediately fund assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) programs for all mentally ill inmates or hospital patients before their releases. The U.S. Congress should pass H.R.3717 "Helping Family in Mental Health Crisis Act," which has a pilot program for AOT programs as well as other provisions that would help repair America's broken mental health system.

6) When police kill, should they judge themselves? Gov. Scott Walker (Wisconsin) answered with a resounding "no," signing into law a bill that requires outside investigation when people die in police custody — the first of its kind in the nation. This should become a federal law. (See a link to the news story from Wisconsin below).

In addition to the black boys and men, police also killed numerous black women. Some of their photographs are shown below. 

Immediate measures must be enacted to prevent the United States of America from falling into anarchy. Citizens cannot be expected to tolerate the continued police killings of unarmed people who are black and brown or whites who lack wealth, and the lives of the nations' most vulnerable people (the homeless and the mentally ill) must be protected. Unless the government's aim is Martial Law, changes must be made with haste to ensure that all deaths are met with due process of law - not by government cover-ups, excuses, and ignoring laws against murder if prosecution against police and corrections officers is warranted. No amount of criticism by the police union against protesters, officials, and community organizers will suffice to repair the growing breach between police departments and the citizenry they are paid by taxpayers to protect. 

DEATHS IN CUSTODY MUST BE REPORTED, INDEPENDENTLY INVESTIGATED,
AND PROSECUTED IF WARRANTED

America must fully honor the U.S. Constitution and the International Declaration of Human Rights for the sake of its domestic security. On Sunday, December 21, 2014, "Human Rights Demand" on Blogtalkradio featured an interview with Windy Hempstead, whose brother Harold Hempstead reported the murder of Darren Rainey. Rainey was killed in Dade Correctional Institution in Florida in 2012 (see the link to the show below). Two years later, Rainey's murder by scalding in a small shower had not been investigated, and the corrections officers responsible had not been disciplined in any way. The Hempsteads then took the story about Rainey to the Miami Herald, which reported the news, unlike mainstream media companies I contacted about Larry Neal's murder, which was also ignored by all government authorities. 

Even today, almost three years after Rainey's torturous death, the medical examiner has not filed an autopsy report, and nobody has been charged with Rainey's killing. The jail and USDOJ refuse to release information about Larry Neal's murder eleven years later. Unrequitted murders say "Black lives don't matter," and the public disagrees, as it is their moral duty to do so.

If the U.S. Government is as inept at protecting the human and civil rights of minorities and Americans with mental illness as it appears to be, surely we need help from other countries and the United Nations. Demonstrations against unrequited police violence were held in diverse countries throughout the world when officers involved in the wrongful deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown were not indicted. Brown's family traveled to Geneva to the United Nations and cried out for assistance making the United States honor its obligation to uphold equal justice for all. U.S. protesters also spoke at the United Nations to say "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" and "I Can't Breathe." 

AIMI plans an action in International Court in 2015 to protect the rights of Americans with mental illness. AIMI will bundle up to 100 cases detailing neglect, police brutality, systemic torture in custody (including solitary confinement), and unrequited deaths of mental patients and drug/alcohol addicts as well as their victims. The cases will be represented by an international human rights lawyer in a civil action for recovery of damages for the victims or their survivors. AIMI will also present a list of recommended changes that we hope the United Nations will mandate for its member state, the USA, to prevent more loss of innocent lives and avoid disruption of peace in this country where continued police murders and deaths in custody threaten the entire social structure. See information at the "AIMI - Human Rights" blog at the link below.

Here are a few ways you can help:

1) Please call 518-474-4246 and ask to speak to Larry Schwartz. If the operator asks you what you want, say “I want Governor Cuomo to sign S7818/ A10071 "The Prisoners Mental Health Discharge and Planning Bill.” Your call may be transferred elsewhere. If so, repeat the same message.

2) Ask your U.S. congressional representatives to pass H.R.3717 "Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Ac http://www.usa.gov/Agencies.shtml

3) Sign this petition: "We Demand National Change to Protect Citizens and Communities from Police Violence and Misconduct" (it presently has 743,113 signatures).
https://www.change.org/p/president-barack-obama-we-demand-national-change-to-protect-citizens-and-communities-from-police-violence-and-misconduct

4) Sign this petition: "Investigate the 2012 death of Mr. Darren Rainey, a mentally ill Florida prisoner who died after prison guards locked him into a 180-degree shower" (it presently has 204,895 supporters)
https://www.change.org/p/attorney-general-eric-holder-investigate-the-2012-death-of-mr-darren-rainey-a-mentally-ill-florida-prisoner-who-died-after-prison-guards-locked-him-into-a-180-degree-shower

The face of Ismaaiyl Brinsley is not the correct icon for the People's opposition to police violence. Protesters condemn his actions. Brinsley was merely another mentally ill man who lacked the psychiatric treatment that he needed and deserved. In fact, his mental disability leads to the deaths of hundreds of Americans' deaths annually, killed on our streets and in custody. The struggle for police accountability is better depicted by the posters in this blog showing men, women, and children who were killed and thousands of nonviolent protesters in the video and photographs below.

"I still hear my brother crying ‘I can’t breathe’
Now I’m in the struggle and saying 'I can’t leave'
Calling out the violence of these racist police
We ain’t gonna stop till people are free
We ain’t gonna stop till people are free"
This song was sung at a protest march seeking justice for Eric Garner and other victims of police violence, Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, December 4, 2014.

Die-in, representing the 4.5 hours Michael Brown's body lay in the Ferguson street and the dead body of Eric Garner on a New York City sidewalk after being choked to death.

Hands Up! Don't Shoot!

AIMI members hope that all government officials follow Gov. Walker's lead and apply corrective measures to overuse of force incidents and deaths in custody that threaten peace in our society. 

Problems are caused by the system which refuses to police the police and acknowledge that all lives matter, not by protesters who cannot breathe in such a system.

Five (5) References:
Grand Jury Refuses to Indict former officer Christopher Manney who shot Dontre Hamilton
http://thefreethoughtproject.com/tensions-rising-national-guard-alert-milwaukee-awaits-indictment-decision-case-dontre-hamilton/

Gov. Scott Walker signs police custody deaths bill
http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/gov-scott-walker-expected-to-sign-police-custody-bill-b99253819z1-256342301.html

"Human Rights Demand" interview with Windy Hempstead regarding Darren Rainey's Murder
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/humanrightsdemand/2014/12/21/darren-rainey-homicide-exposed-by-harold-and-windy-hempstead

Secret Arrest and Wrongful Death of Larry Neal
http://WrongfulDeathofLarryNeal.com/main.html

Protesters sing "I Can't Breathe" on Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, December 4, 2014
http://youtu.be/WJMLY0thfOQ

CONDOLENCES to the families and friends of all people whose lives were taken in acts of violence. We solute government officials and protesters who continue to work for positive changes in the system.

*******

Thank you for giving Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill.

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 in deadly restraint for control. That happens to mentally ill people routinely in the nation's correctional facilities. What happened to Larry Neal? Why are we still asking that question after eleven years?

Mentally Ill Americans Need Dog Justice. Treat mental illness medically, not legally. Support the H.R. 3717 "Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act."

DogJusticeforMentallyIll Blog Welcome

Hello and welcome to all families of mentally ill Americans who are wrongly incarcerated for offenses that arose from mental health problems or who face an increased risk for imprisonment due to a common, health condition. Greetings to everyone who has been victimized or have/had relatives and friends who were abused or killed by extrajudicial police violence. This human rights advocate empathizes with you because of the murder under secret arrest of Larry Neal in 2003 and oppression to keep his death covered-up http://WrongfulDeathofLarryNeal.com . I spoke about it on the brief video embedded below, filmed by Press TV in 2012, which is also at YouTube link http://youtu.be/584tgKJwobY . The video is about systemic racism in America, but acute mental patients, especially those who lack wealth, are at risk no matter what their race is. Search this blog for the video of a Caucasian, Kelly Thomas, being killed by police in California.

It is painful to lose relatives to violence or avoidable deaths and injuries caused by negligence. Yet that is a danger everyone in a society faces when acute mental patients lack proper treatment and subsistence assistance. Assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) programs have proved to reduce homelessness, arrests, hospitalizations and incarceration by 85% or better among program participants in New York when compared to their experiences three years before joining an AOT program that mandates psychiatric treatment and provides subsistence assistance.

I believe that together, you and I can Change things. Homelessness, prison, and death must no longer be America's answers to poverty and mental illness. Acute mental patients do not usually vote for politicians who pass laws and decide budgets that have tremendous impact on their lives, but their millions of relatives and friends do. Every area should have police officers trained to deal with mentally challenged people without violence as well as sufficient hospital beds for inpatients for crisis intervention and for long-term care. Mental ill people in America who require containment must become hospital inpatients rather than prison inmates. Mental illness is like physical diseases such as heart trouble or diabetes in that it requires continual monitoring by health care professionals. That is why every community also needs active AOT programs to promote community safety, reduce its prison budget, and help acute mental patients be restored to wholesome living. The good news is that caring for the mentally ill saves money. Treatment Advocacy Center reports:

A study of mandatory outpatient treatment costs published today in the American Journal of Psychiatry found that use of assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) can vastly reduce overall costs of mental health services for persons with serious mental illness.

“Common sense has always argued that treating people with severe mental illness is a lot cheaper than arresting, jailing and/or hospitalizing them – not to mention more humane,” said Doris A. Fuller, executive director. “Now Duke University and its research partners have produced the numbers to validate it.”

I believe most Americans are decent people who would care about marginalized psychiatric patients and vote for public officials who are committed to improving their conditions. However, people can only care about conditions that they know about. Articles in "Dog Justice for Mentally Ill" blog are published to inform and recruit the general public to help give Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill. You assist in this justice quest every time you share an article or video from this blog with your online networks. You are invited to "follow this blog" by using the widget in the upper right margin and read more articles listed in the blog's index. Over a million incarcerated mental patients and families of murdered and abused sick people thank you for your concern.

Animal rights laws prevent dogs from being treated like my brother Larry Neal and other psychiatric patients in this blog were. Everybody deserves at least "Dog Justice."

Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill advocates at

Blogger - Dog Justice for Mentally Ill

http://dogjusticeformentallyill.blogspot.com/

Care2 

http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI

Read our Mission Statement at the Care2 group's "Welcome" strand

Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Assistance-to-the-Incarcerated-Mentally-Ill/295716950438625
Google+
https://plus.google.com/communities/108448922585036678747
Twitter
http://twitter.com/koffietime

Read more about AOT programs at this link 
http://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/solution/assisted-outpatient-treatment-laws

Dog Justice for the Mentally Ill

Imprisoned Two Years without Trial

NOTE: Please see the update at the end of this article. Good news for justice!

IMPRISONED FOR TWO YEARS WITHOUT  TRIAL! Travis Firecloud, a Native American, is in Hughes County Jail at 3100 E. Hwy., 34 Pierre St., South DeKota, zip 57501, phone (605)773-7475. His sister, Janice Howe, says Travis does not have a prison I.D. number because he's never been found guilty of anything.

DOG JUSTICE FOR THE MENTALLY ILL

Janice Howe invites emails from people who can help at mz_j_adrian@live.com. She describes her brother's situation:

I have an adopted brother who is mentally retarded FAS, with an I.Q. of 62. Travis was falsely accused in federal court of aggravated sexual abuse of a child. Travis has no blood relatives. My mother raised him. After Travis came of age, he stayed with my parents and helped with all children, not ever hurting anyone. After arrest, he went all over the United States to be evaluated, only to be given the same diagnoses that the psychologist had given my mother: Travis is of no danger to anyone. He just returned from Butner, North Carolina. Psychiatrists recommended for Travis to be released from custody. Authorities would release him to someone who has no children, but everyone has children. Travis has been held for two years and one month.

My mother passed away on August 12, 2012. They didn't even allow Travis out for the funeral. It is a sad situation. We are Native Americans, and the system is prejudice against us. We have no money to help Travis, and he has no money.

******

The entire country is upset about provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that give the White House the ability to intern people indefinitely under military arrest without criminal charges or any opportunity for defense. On September 12, 2012, a federal court issued a permanent injunction against indefinite detention without due process. However, this is how many of America's mentally challenged people live. It is unacceptable to warehouse the nation's most vulnerable citizens in jails and prisons, but 1.25 million mentally challenged people awoke behind bars today. In fact, over 60% of inmates in cruel solitary confinement are mentally ill. They should be in hospitals or in community care programs, depending on their offenses and functionality. Travis and over a million other mentally challenged Americans are behind bars for PRISON PROFITS. Their human and civil rights are continually trampled. My own mentally ill brother was killed while under secret arrest for nearly three weeks in Memphis Shelby County Jail http://WrongfulDeathOfLarryNeal.com . Our family is denied any records or investigation. That proves mentally ill people, particularly minorities, are considered by their government to deserve no protection, even for the right to life.

UPDATE

Janice Howe

9:08pm Oct 1
I have been trying to post on your wall. MY LIYTLE BROTHER TRAVIS WAS RELEASED TODAY FROM FEDERAL CUSTODY. CALLED MY DAD - HE WENT UP, AND THEY RELEASED HIM. HE IS FREE!!!!

Response: 
Praise God, Janice, your brother is home. I give thanks to have been of some measure of help to you, my sister. Thank God for whatever just officials ordered his release. Thank you for letting us know. Many blessings!

Bridge in the Mist, by Morning Joy

ASSISTANCE TO THE INCARCERATED MENTALLY ILL HELPS BRIDGE THE GAP 

BACK TO WHOLESOME LIVING FOR THE MENTALLY ILL IN AMERICA.

Press TV Interviews re Systemic Racism in USA

(six links, one embedded video, one photo) Press TV conduted interviews regarding racism against African Americans in 21st century USA. People interviewed regarding that subject were filmed in Washington, DC, New York City, and in Atlanta. Filming in Atlanta was done June 12 - 15. Dr. Randy Short was the project narrator. He resides in District of Columbia, and can be contacted through his Facebook account at this link http://www.facebook.com/randy.short1 . More information about the project is also available at an article "DISCUSS RACIAL OPPRESSION ON PRESS TV" at this link http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/discuss-racial-oppression-on-press-tv.html .

I spoke with Press TV about America's high prison rate, especially African American mentally ill inmates. Mentally challeged people of all races are imprisoned, but African Americans are imprisoned at a higher rate than whites. Many sick people are brutalized and killed by police officers and jail guards like my brother Larry Neal, who was secretly arrested for 18 days and killed in Memphis Shelby County Jail in 2003. A reporter attempted to call me last week and reached a fake recording saying that my phone was out of service (678)531.0262. She then called Dr. Short to notify him that she could not reach me by phone, and I was on the phone with Dr. Short at that very moment! Being African Americans, my family is denied any records and accountability whatsoever about Larry's weeks of secret incarceration and his death. Furthermore, our phones and computers are illegally monitored and controlled to limit disclosure about Larry and my advocacy for other people to be treated justly. Although white mental patients are abused or killed like Kelly Thomas was in Fullerton, California, white families are not then isolated and terrorized to cover-up their relatives' deaths. No family is "made whole" after a police murder by receiving monetary compensation. However, lawsuits follow wrongful deaths and should act as deterrents for police violence. Kelley Thomas' mother was offered a one-million-dollar settlement for her son's horrible beating death. On the contrary, my mother, a black woman, had her phone taken over to prevent our disclosures about my brother's death. That is racism. It is good for the international community to learn about censorship and terrorism I endure to hide Larry Neal's muder and because together with your help, I strive to give ASSISTANCE TO THE INCARCERATED MENTALLY ILL. The public will eventually see the videos showing that I placed this same message at my Care2 Group AIMI twice, and each time stalkers prevented it from posting. http://www.care2.com/c2c/groups/disc.html?gpp=17280&pst=1079931&saved=1

PRISON INVESTORS AND STALKERS THEY SEND TO FOLLOW ME IN PERSON WILL EVENTUALLY RECOGNIZE THAT SOME AFRICAN AMERICANS REFUSE SLAVERY. See a beautiful montage of photographs about Martin Luther King, Jr. and other freedom fighters at the link below, and note the surprise ending. It is also at YouTube at this link http://youtu.be/B6_0nPM4fxc (This article continues after the video.)

 

Our Care2 group, ASSISTANCE TO THE INCARCERATED MENTALLY ILL, was established to advocate for decriminalizing mental illness. The online group was taken over by cyberstalkers working for people who have no regard for my right to Freedom of Press, especially since I use it to help mentally ill Americans - they are a cash cow for prison investors. Authorities do or allow the censorship and refuse to investigate or prosecute the criminals. See a video showing cyberstalking to prevent discussions about a congressional bill that would have helped mentally ill Americans have Medicaid resumed for inpatient care at this link  "H.R.619 Advocacy Censored at AIMI"   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTnBUYoJtk4 
Mary Neal, director of Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/aimi

We Mad Climb Shaky Ladders

JAIL IS THE LAST THING THAT MENTAL PATIENTS NEED, AND TOO OFTEN, IT IS THE VERY LAST THING THEY EXPERIENCE. Please join our effort to decriminalize mental illness. No one deserves to be punished for having a disability.

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"The poet's ability to examine her behavior is both edifying and harrowing." ~Baron Wormser

http://www.amazon.com/Mad-Climb-Shaky-Ladders-LaurelBooks/dp/1933880104

Pamela Spiro Wagner is an accomplished writer, artist and poet who has mental health challenges. She shares her experiences in her poetry and http://wagblog.wordpress.com/author/wagblog/ - the link for her pupular blog.


After a lifetime of psychiatric disability, Pamela Spiro Wagner co-authored DIVIDED MINDS: Twin Sisters and Their Journey Through Schizophrenia (St Martins Press, 2005) with her identical twin sister, Carolyn S. Spiro, MD, a psychiatrist. There are now and have always been people like Pam who made valuable contributions to society despite mental illness. No one deserves to be incarcerated for having a common, treatable health condition.

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Bipolar Disorder? Schizophrenia? Manic Depression? Alzheimer's? Dementia? PTSD? Post Partum Depression? Autism? See who else has/had mental disorders:

Buzz Aldrin (astronaut) • Adam Ant (musician) • Ludwig van Beethoven (composer) • Napoleon Bonaparte (political leader) • Tim Burton (artist, director) • Lord Byron (poet) • Dick Cavett (television journalist) • Winston Churchill (politician) • Charles Dickens (author) • DMX, Dark Man X (Earl Simmons) (musician, actor) • Robert Downey Jr. (actor) • Richardy Dreyfuss (actor) • Patty Duke (actress) • Ralph Waldo Emerson (author) • Carrie Fisher (Actress, writer) • Larry Flynt (publisher, activist) • Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (Writer) • Connie Francis (singer) • Stephen Fry (actor, comedian writer) • Peter Gabriel (musician) • Alan Garner (novelist) • Matthew Good (musician) • Philip Graham (publisher, businessman) • Macy Gray (musician, actor) • Graham Greene (English Novelist) • Ivor Gurney (English composer, poet)• Sean LeVert (singer) • Patrick Kennedy (Congressman) • Elvis Presley (singer, actor) • Britney Speers (singer) • Somebody you love!

DogJustice Blog is a place for the mentally challenged and their family members and professional service providers in the psychiatric, drug rehabilitation, and legal fields to meet and share information with the public. Please use the blue "follow this blog" icon to be notified about posts by people in your community who need assistance and to learn about goods and services that are available. Help decriminalize mental illness by inviting your friends. Remove barriers to adequate care and legal services to eliminate incarceration and homelessness and greatly reduce the necessity for hospitalization. Contact me at MaryLovesJustice@gmail.com , phone 678.531.0262, and/or comment in the comments field below. If you are interested in becoming a co-host for DogJustice site, a contributing member, or an advertiser, please state your interest. Advertisers pay a nominal quarterly fee, and your ads stay online indefinitely. Non-advertising members join free and are asked to regularly post the DogJustice links for your stories and those of other members in social media. Working together, we will reduce the stigma associated with mental illness, relieve suffering families, and replace imprisonment with adequate care.

JAIL IS THE LAST THING THAT MENTAL PATIENTS NEED, AND TOO OFTEN, IT IS THE VERY LAST THING THEY EXPERIENCE. Please join our effort to decriminalize mental illness. No one deserves to be punished for having a disability.