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Mom Films Cops Arresting 10-Year-Old Son with Autism at School – The Huffington Post

Last week, a 10-year-old boy with autism was arrested on a warrant at his school in Okeechobee. The boy had allegedly attacked a school employee in November of 2016 and was suspended and then homebound. The boy and his family were not informed…
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How Florida Entraps Pain Patients, Forces Them to Snitch, Then Locks Them Up for Decades – Reason

Two decades ago, Florida enacted strict mandatory minimum sentences for opioid-related crimes. Critics, however, argue that this laws are too harsh. Read more.
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Mentally Ill Could Be Charged With “Hate Crime” Under Proposed Bill – North Carolina Health News

A proposed "Blue Lives Matter" bill in North Carolina has some mental health professionals concerned. HB 181 includes a section that would classify assault against emergency personnel—law enforcement officers, emergency medical technicians,…
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Adam Hall Tried to Kill Himself in Prison. And Got Six More Years – The Village Voice

This articles narrates the incarceration of Adam Hall, a man who has suffered from severe mental illness his whole life—going in and out of psychiatric facilities since childhood. In 2006,  Hall was sentenced to prison for three years; however,…
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Inside The Hole: What Happens To The Mind In Isolation? – NPR

In this episode of NPR's Hidden Brain, Dr. Keramet Reiter discusses the practice of solitary confinement and its effects on the human brain. Read more.  
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Does the Death Penalty Target People who are Mentally Ill? – The Washington Post

This week, The Washington Post published Dr. Frank R. Baumgartner and Betsy Neill's analysis on the use of the capital punishment on people with mental illness.  While the majority of Americas oppose the execution of people with mental illness,…
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Research into Veterans’ Substance Misuse – University of Northumbria at Newcastle

The release of new research study at the University of Northumbia in Newcastle has led to some insight about alcohol abuse among veterans of the British military. The study found that a veteran with substance abuse problems took, on average,…
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Malheur County Murder Suspect Feigned Insanity for 20 Years to Avoid Prison – The Malheur Enterprise

After 20 years in a state hospital in Oregon, a murder suspect has finally admitted that he was pretending to be mentally ill to avoid prison time. No longer adjudicated mentally ill, Tony Montwheeler was released, despite professionals' warnings. Now,…
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A Victory for the Eighth Amendment – The Atlantic

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Moore v. Texas. In a 5-3 decision, the Court ruled in favor of Bobby James Moore, a death row inmate who challenged Texas' method for determining intellectual disability. The Court ruled…
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Officials Ruled Inmate’s ‘Boiling’ Death an Accident: But Documents Show They Omitted Key Details – The Huffington Post

Earlier this month, Katherine Fernandez Rundle, the State Attorney for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, announced that correctional officers would not be criminally charged with the 2012 death  of Darren Rainey, a severely mentally ill inmate…
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The Scariest Part Of Working In A Prison Isn’t The Inmates – The Thought Catalog

A substance abuse counselor for a prison explains how trauma and mental illness influences mass incarceration. Read more.
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John Hinckley Left the Mental Hospital Seven Months Ago – New York Magazine

In 1982, John Hinckley was tried for an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. On June 21, a jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity and Hinckley was confined to a psychiatric care institution until his release in 2016, when…
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Deaf, Mute and Accused of Murder, an Undocumented Immigrant Has Been in Legal Limbo for 12 Years – The Washington Post

Oswaldo Martinez is accused of raping and murdering a 16-year-old in 2005. However, due to his extremely limited ability to communicate—Martinez has been deaf and mute since birth—he has been declared incompetent to stand trial. Despite…
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Florida Ranks 49th in Mental Health Services – WESH 2 News

Despite a new report that Florida ranks 49th in the country for mental health services, legislators are considering a $50 million budget cut. Watch the report.
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After Inmate With Schizophrenia Dies In Shower, Fla. Prosecutor Finds No Wrongdoing – NPR

Darren Rainey, who suffered from severe schizophrenia, was locked in a shower stall at Dade Correctional Institution's transitional care unit (TCU) in 2012. Left unattended for two hours, Rainey died. Nearly five years later, Eleventh Judicial…