Tag Archive for: U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)

When Going to Jail Means Giving Up The Meds That Saved Your Life
Before Geoffrey Pesce got on methadone, his addiction to heroin and oxycodone nearly destroyed him: He lost his home, his job, custody of his son—and his driver’s license. So even after he began to rebuild his life, Pesce relied on his parents…

Prisons Are Housing Mental Health Patients Who’ve Committed No Crimes
Andrew Butler was a popular kid at Hollis Brookline High School in New Hampshire, an honors student who was captain of the football and wrestling teams.
Then, during college, Andrew tore his leg muscles, making even walking to class difficult.…

Sheriff to End Solitary Confinement for Teens at Palm Beach County Jail Under Settlement
Young offenders called it “the box.”
It’s where their world at the Palm Beach County jail shrank to a 6-by-12 foot cell — for months.
In solitary confinement, no music was allowed. No television. No human contact.
Read more.

County Jails Struggle To Treat Mentally Ill Inmates
DeVonte Jones began to show signs of schizophrenia as a teenager. His first public episode was nine years ago at a ballgame at Wavering Park, in Quincy, Ill.
"He snapped out and just went around and started kicking people," says Jones'…

Information on Inmates with Serious Mental Illness and Strategies to Reduce Recidivism- Government Accountability Office
About two-thirds of inmates with a serious mental illness in the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) were incarcerated for four types of offenses—drug (23 percent), sex offenses (18 percent), weapons and explosives…