Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill's Apology to Civil Rights Organizations and Others

African Americans, civil rights organizations, journalists, and others, please pardon my family’s attempts to enlighten you and attract your support regarding an issue of gross injustice that does not afford an opportunity to protest against white oppressors.

We certainly had no way of knowing prior to the secret incarceration and jail death of my mentally ill brother, a 54‑year‑old heart patient, followed by an elaborate cover-up by a noted law firm and others, that you had little interest demanding justice for the disenfranchised if justice was to be extracted at the price of exposing black people in positions of power – people you choose to admire, regardless of whether your high regard is deserved.  See http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com

Frankly, it feels no better to have one’s rights trampled if the boots doing the stomping encase black feet rather than white feet.  Black on black crime is not limited to this nation’s ghettos, and true justice is colorblind. 

There is a curious lack of discussion among some civil rights organizations, even in light of the circumstances surrounding the jail death of Larry Neal or other mentally ill people who are killed during arrest or who are incarcerated rather than hospitalized for their mental dysfunctions in America.  There is little discussion about abuses to the mentally ill despite the fact that African Americans are over-represented in our country’s prison population where approximately 26% are mental patients.

African American families are less likely than others to have adequate insurance coverage and/or available funds to obtain care for their loved ones in private facilities.  Unfortunately, with downsizing and closing public mental hospitals across America, our chronically mentally ill citizens, especially the indigent, are often jailed for their disabilities. 

Like many chronically mentally ill people, Larry Neal actually did break the law from time to time -- but not intentionally.  For more than two decades, when it was time for lunch, Larry had only to get inline in his mental hospital's cafeteria, receive his food, and eat.  Larry and many other acutely mentally ill patients at the hospital were turned out of the asylum to live free in society during the 1970’s.  Probably thanks to the efforts of some "helpful" and very dedicated mental health organization, Larry and many thousands of other severely mentally ill people gained their “freedom” and became subject to the laws of our land.  One day when Larry was ready for lunch, he went into a supermarket, got food, and ate, just as he had done for more than 20 years in the asylum.  Larry was immediately arrested for stealing and held until his social worker claimed him from jail.  Larry’s arrest created an unnecessary burden on the criminal justice system. 

After 20+ years of arrests and releases for misdemeanors, Larry was finally secretly arrested and POLICE DENIED HAVING HIM FOR 18 DAYS UNTIL HE HAD A FATAL HEART ATTACK, presumably brought on by the absence of Larry’s prescription heart medication.  His family is not sure of the exact circumstances of his death, because for more than four years, all requests for official records and an investigation regarding Larry's death have been DENIED.  During this fatal arrest, his family and social worker searched for poor Larry as a missing person, while Larry languished and died in jail.

Jail has three purposes: (1) to punish criminals; (2) to deter crime; and (3) rehabilitation of criminals. Mentally ill people like Larry do not act out of criminal intent, and prison is no deterrent to their psychosis.  Instead of rehabilitation and punishment, many acutely mentally ill persons need containment in a safe environment offering long-term psychiatric care.  It is not popular for me to say these things, because many mental health professionals do not choose to acknowledge the need for confinement for acutely mentally ill people.  Some time ago in this country, it was evidently decided to treat mentally ill people just like everybody else, and that means jail for many sick people.  Police who should be about the business of fighting crime in America are instead being forced to act as psychiatric caretakers, but without the straight jackets, tranquilizers, and other tools psychiatric hospitals have available.

If we want to stop incarcerating sick Americans, we must have someplace to put the chronically mentally ill – not only those who are dangerous, but those who simply cannot survive in society unrestrained, like Larry.  To move these disabled Americans away from the criminal justice system and into decent mental hospitals, America needs more and improved mental hospitals.  Our organization, Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill (“AIMI”), advocates for the chronically mentally ill to be relocated from our jails into decent environments for containment and treatment.  Not all mental patients are as nonviolent as my unfortunate brother, Larry.  If inpatient services become more available, America will be able to curtail the violence done by some mental patients BEFORE unnecessary and tragic loss of life, such as in the case of the Virginia Tech student who massacred 32 people, a violent bloodbath that might have been avoided if it were not so difficult to obtain mental health services for sick people without their consent. 

In the tradition of Dorothea Dix, AIMI works to increase the availability of inpatient mental health services to all American citizens in crisis, replacing jail as the place of containment for the acutely mentally ill.  Specifically, AIMI advocates for the following changes:

Those who are arrested for displaying their dementia should be dealt with humanely during any arrests, without the use of Taser guns or deadly force.  Why are tranquilizer guns used to fell large animals who pose a danger, while live bullets are used on mentally ill Americans? 

We would like to see a three-day limit placed on the amount of time that people with a diagnosed mental dysfunction can remain in jail while awaiting trial.  Instead, they should to be speedily transferred to a mental hospital or mental ward of a medical hospital and remain there under psychiatric care until posting bail, standing trial, or longer, if determined necessary by their doctors. 

Judges should order compulsory, continuous outpatient psychiatric treatment and drug therapy as a part of any probation deal for the incarcerated mentally ill.  Probationers who are prescribed psychiatric medications should be regularly tested to ensure compliance with their doctor’s orders, or they should be found to be in violation of their probation.  AIMI believes that repeated incarcerations of our mentally ill citizens are caused by a simple fact:  The majority of acutely mentally ill people who resist accepting treatment for their illness do so because they are beyond making reasonable decisions. 

America ’s mentally disabled citizens deserve fair treatment, without regard to race, religion, ethnicity, or economic class.  For moderately mentally ill persons, fair treatment may mean greater access to mental health services while going about everyday life in the community.  However, giving fair and humane treatment for scores of acutely mentally ill people, particularly those who suffer repeated arrests, necessarily means containment in quality mental health facilities, as many simply cannot survive in society unrestrained.  It is far more humane for the acutely mentally ill to be hospitalized rather than incarcerated and suffer in jail, usually under harsher circumstances than other convicts.

Caring for and protecting the civil rights of our handicapped citizens are vital endeavors for any civil rights organization, and demanding fair treatment for the “least of these, His brethren” is a mandate to the church by Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Therefore, we urge an end to the hypocrisy evident by the silence of civil rights groups and churches regarding the wrongful death of Larry Neal the issue of incarcerating indigent mentally disabled Americans. 

Not all struggles for justice can give African Americans an opportunity to stage politically correct protests against white people in power.  It is time to admit that the abuse of wealth and power is a human fallibility not limited to Caucasians!  Please support AIMI’s efforts to advocate for the incarcerated mentally ill by visiting the following website and participating in this work, and help obtain at least “dog justice” for our mentally ill citizens:  http://www.nowpublic.com/health/petition-u-s-justice-department-0

Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill
P.O. Box 7222 , Atlanta , GA   30357
website: http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com