Book Review: Just Mercy
Stephenson possible and he worked hard to prove that the evidence was insufficient. It’s crazy the court system tried to convict Mr. McMillian for a crime he did not commit.
In the book, Just Mercy showed how unfair The tangle of conspiracy, political aspects, the Justice System was towards blacks. Jails and legal flaws that was transformed to his and prison suggest that the system is bias understanding of mercy and justice forever. and irrational to minorities while custody. McMillian’s conviction rested on testimony Bryan Stevenson was very generous to take so outrageous that it’s astonishing anyone on many of the cases that he ended up losing could have believed it, especially in the face to the racist court system. The crimes of six alibi witnesses, including a police committed did not fit the punishment and officer, who placed him at a fish fry from Mr. Stevenson was there to help to the scene of the crime when it occurred. understand their rights. The treatment of the In reading Just Mercy, there was an black men was poor, disfavored, harsh, and issue with criminal justice in Alabama is the condemned. Simply punishing the broken trial judges are elected and a lot of them only ensures that they remain broken and we involves politics. Depending on the do, too. Each of us is more than the worst campaign reward there goals is to get the thing we've ever done. Walter McMillian’s case was so sad
votes and enforce harsh punishments on blacks which makes them look superior.
because he was wrongly accused of killing a “No judge wants to deal with attack ads that young white women and acquitted later on highlight the grisly details of a murder case in the text. His story kept the mission by Mr. in which the judge failed to impose the most
severe punishment,� Stevenson points out in the book. I believe Mr. Stevenson described each encounters with individual whose experience and actions taught him about compassion and hope. To have the courage to face fears and uncertainties even if you have a chance to loss more at the end.
Opinion Editorial
and jails. The issue is there are no resources to reduce the number of the mentally ill and
Critical Writing Submission Link In the criminal justice system, treating mental illness is very complicated for officers to handle because of the lack of knowledge of handling criminals with
providing them with treatment option when they are released from prison or jail. In the article, the Sheriff McDonald provides a great point and it stated that “mentally ill often come into the jail for crimes of poverty, homelessness, and addiction.”
mental illness. Many offenders with mental illness never receive treatment while incarceration and this is a major problem in the criminal justice system. It’s sad that the some mentally ill break the law so they can get treated in the jails. In the article, it discusses how Los Angeles County Jail system is one of the largest jails in America and mental health facilities deal with the large number of mentally ill inmates.(Moodian pg. 1) In my opinion, officers need more training and strategies to handle these large amounts of the mental illness in the prisons
(Moodian pg. 1)I agree that she is completely right with the statement she provided because a lot of people who suffer from mental illness don’t have help with their mental health care. Also it’s shameful they don’t provide mental health classes or groups to help reduce the number of criminals with in the jails and prison when they need to be in a mental facility.
The strengths of the article, it
her jail dealing with the large amount of
discusses how the jails are filled up with
offenders with mental illness. The reader
criminals with severe mental health illness
and I have the same view on how there
that really need to be in mental health
needs to be more resources for those
facility not in jail. The fact that the mental
suffering from mental illness while
illness can affect your life in many ways
incarcerated in jail or prison.
because a lot of the fact depends on what you have seen in life or drug abuse. I believe that the people suffering from mental illness just need some advice or knowledge on how to deal with their illness. The weakness of the article in my opinion, would be the importance on how to handle those violent offender with mental illness that needs special medications to function normally. The sheriff does not provide much insight on how to handle those offenders who need to be incarcerated for violent crimes committed. When reading the article, it addresses issues with mental illness offenders and informative to read about how
Like the Kalif Browder story that I watched on BET, the guy was sent to Riker Island without a trial for three years for robbery as a young adult. The documentary was shocking to watch because the prison violated a lot of constitutional rights during his arrest and stay at Riker Island. He was sexually assaulted, abused by the prison guards, and lose all of his teen life because he was in prison.
In conclusion, mental illness is the only physical ailment we treat as criminally punishable in today’s society. The officers are lacking the training because the criminal justice system does not provide give officers the education needed to deal with the mentally ill. A lot of the mentally ill are released from the prison with no treatment plan to fall back on. Jails are rigidly structured to maintain safety, and offenders with mental illness often break the rules leading to more punishments. Ultimately the offender suffers with being a regulated and restrictive environment while in jail that can intensify their mental illness.
additional research such as that shares the
JAA-Mental Health
similar views and ways to provide training Journalist Pete Earley, the author and
and more resources.
storyteller who has penned 17 books including 2007 Pulitzer finalist for Crazy: A Father’s Search through America’s Mental Health Madness, four New York Times bestsellers including The Hot House. The author’s life was turned upside down by the events recounted in his book Crazy, he joined the National Alliance on
Article Summary
Mental Illness to advocate for strong mental Earley explains in this article about health reform on the public stage. Mr. Early how the jail system handles his son who is become the keynote speaker at the diagnosis with bipolar disease and the American Correctional Association’s 145
th
challenging steps to get his son treatment. Congress of Correction in August 2015. My paper will discuss how mental illness in a major issue in jails, my views and opinions mental illness and solutions on fixing the problem instead of avoiding the major issues. I summarize the article and identify issues with in the jail system. I used
According to Earley’s finding “costs an average of $50,000 per year to keep someone in Fairfax County Jail” (pg. 56) but they only spend $7500 to give the mental health care. The cost to incarcerate the mental ill cost maybe more beneficial to use community resources to
help them. Earley was an advocate for his
enforcement officers and mentally ill away
son and this article shows all the resources
from the jail scenery to establish
and writing a book to help society
community treatment. (pg.55).
understand and train the staff properly to handle these type of mental illness. He created this program to help offender who have mental illness stay out of jail called Peer to Peer.
My opinion on the article, I agree with Earley %100 because the mentally ill really need to be in a mental health center to get the proper care and medication. I don’t think that if you are crazy you
Analysis The purpose of the article it seems to inform society how the criminal system handles the mentally ill. The experiences he had when he tried to get help for his son who was sick and showed very erratic behavior and at times he became dangerous and unpredictable. Earley shares advice from the mental health center and give pointers on how to get admitted in the mental health center instead of going to jail. Earley mentioned having a crisis intervention team (CIT) training for the law
should be out in society because that’s wrong. I believe in helping people who want help and feel like a human being with committing crimes. For example, Earley’s son Kevin had some challenging issues in the beginning of the article because he never treated his bipolar disorder and refuse to take medication by calling them “pills are prison”. (pg 54) Earley found that “40 % of people with mental illness have some encounter with the criminal justice system.” They often
incarcerated more and it cost more to treat
illness has gotten better or worse in
them because they require more time and
America today. The research estimates that
effort.
15 percent of men and nearly one-third of
The criminal justice system and mental health need to provide collaborate effectively to address mental health offenders. There needs to be a positive change to the jail system handling mental illness offenders because the authority need training to be able to share knowledge and understanding the illness to communicate compassion. Kevin overcame his mental illness because he had to learn to control the illness and don’t let it control you. (pg 56) The article really caught my attention because Earley told his story and how he saved his son Kevin when he was at his lowest point with his mental illness. Earley went after the mental illness issue full force and wrote multiple books on his personal experiences. If I could ask Earley a question I would ask him if he thinks the mental
women in jail setting have a serious mental illness. Despite increasing recognition that the number of people with serious mental illness in the U.S. criminal justice system has reached unprecedented levels, existing interventions have done little to reduce these numbers.
Annotated Bibliography: Mental Health 1. Kara, F. B. (2014). Police interactions
provide an empirical basis for understanding the need for evidence based police policy and practices when dealing with mentally ill.
with the mentally ill: The role of procedural 2. Harte, J. M. (2015). Preventing crime in justice. Canadian Graduate cooperation with the mental health care Journal of Sociology and Criminology, 3(1), profession. Crime, Law and Social Change, 79-94. Retrieved from 64(4-5), 263-275. http://nclive.org.ezproxy.nccu.edu/cgibin/nc doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.nccu.edu/1 lsm?url=http://search.proquest.co 0.1007/s10611-015-9589-z m.ezproxy.nccu.edu/docview/15445265 52?accountid=12713
In the article, the author focuses on major mental disorders do not have a central
The author, wrote about the police position in many criminological theories. encounter with the mentally ill that involves the use of force by police and it happens relatively infrequent but quite volatile. The article discusses the use of procedural justice theory in understanding the quality and consequence of such interaction. While using procedural justice theory and its specific application to the police who interact with mentally ill individuals. It will
There is an evident relationship between these disorders and criminal behavior but there are ways to deal with mentally ill individuals. In daily practice police officers and mental health care workers work jointly to prevent nuisance and crime and to keep the city livable. Examining the situations where
the criminal justice system and mental
prosecuted, and sentenced with great
health institutes are jointly involved to
frequency and regularity.
prevent crime, some pitfalls emerge that seem to threaten successful cooperation.
Similarly, researchers have noted that PSMI are over-represented in institutional and community correctional populations
3. Lurigio, A. J. (2012). Responding to the needs of people with mental illness in the
compared with their representation in the general population.
criminal justice system: An area ripe for research and community partnerships. Journal of Crime & Justice, 35(1), 1. Retrieved from http://nclive.org.ezproxy.nccu.edu/cgibin/nc lsm?url=http://search.proquest.co m.ezproxy.nccu.edu/docview/94238506 0?accountid=12713 In this article, it advocates the mentally ill and criminal justice system when those criminal have serious mental ill (PSMI) and they are being criminalized. Criminal justice officials and practitioners have reported that PSMI are being arrested,
This article examines four common issues concerning criminally involved PSMI. The article concludes with recommendations for improving the treatment and care of PSMI in the criminal justice field.
to a change in criminal offending and expenditure trajectory. Also there is a twostep analysis that uses the data to examine and identify groups of people with similar patterns of criminal justice expenditures over 4 years (July 2002 to June 2006); 4. Robst, J., Constantine, R., Andel, R., Boaz, T., & Howe, A. (2011). Factors
second, they will evaluate their demographic characteristics, diagnosis and
related to criminal justice expenditure
treatment as potential predictors of group
trajectories for adults with serious mental
membership. The review of criminal justice
illness. Criminal Behaviour and
expenditure over time on individuals with
Mental Health : CBMH, 21(5), 350. Retrieved from
major mental disorder may provide important indicators of unmet need for
http://nclive.org.ezproxy.nccu.edu/cgibin/n
mental health services.
clsm?url=http://search.proquest.co
5. Dyer, W. (2013) ‘Criminal Justice
m.ezproxy.nccu.edu/docview/915054361?
Diversion and Liaison Services: A Path to
accountid=12713
Success?’, Social Policy and Society, 12(1), pp. 31–45. doi: 10.1017/S1474746412000188
The article, examine the criminal justice system over time in one Florida county. Our
The article, discuss the diversion services
main research question was whether
for adult mentally disordered offenders are
treatment for mental disorders was related
back in the limelight twenty years after their
original development. This article argues
offender pathway, which meets the needs of
there are a number of important lessons to
different groups of people. What works for
be learnt. Services of this kind ‘process’
some might not work for others, but
different people in different ways with
patterns can be mapped and good and bad
different outcomes. Current developments
pathways identified and used to inform
therefore need to provide a holistic, patient-
good practice and service improvement.
centered approach across the whole
Infographics: Mental Health in the Criminal Justice Field Infographics: Mental Health in the Criminal Justice Field Infographics: Mental Health in the Criminal Justice Field Infographics: Mental Health in the Criminal Justice Field
Infographics: Mental Health Ever received
Federal Prison
mental health treatment 49.3%
44 %
Women 56 %
Men
Received treatment during the year before befire arrest 22.3% Received treatment after
In state Prison
55 % 45 %
admission 33.8%
Women Men
Female inmates are more likely to have mental health issues than male inmates.
Local jail
65 %
Women 35 %
Men
In the criminal justice system, mental health
with behavioral disorders and mental illness
is a major issue and even as short term stay
end up in stressful prison environment and
at jails and prisons remain the places where
the long times incarcerated exacerbate their
those with severe psychosis are housed. In
conditions.
the United States, now there are three times
The information and statistics should be
more people with serious mental illness
used to find solution for the issues of lack of
incarcerated than in hospitals. The graphic
education on mentally ill inmates. I believe
presented on page one shows the percentage
the information gathers on the inmates with
of women versus men with mental health
mental illness can help them with particular
issues. A study done by the Bureau of
issues with pharmacological interventions.
Justice Statistics reported that 56 percent of state prisons have inmates with mental health issues.
My focus of the magazine to prove that mental illness is a major issue in the criminal justice system and this problem need a solution quickly. During incarceration, the mentally ill have experienced or witnessed traumatic events during adolescence. The issue in the local jails, state or federal prisons are bad place to be with a mental illness. Men and women
Medication is an option for those inmates who need the help such as antidepressant, anti-anxiety meds, or antipsychotic and provide educational treatment options. Mental illness is a major issue and there
Literature Review:
safety of not only the officer but other inmates’ safety. The problem is lack of resources for the
Mental Illness
criminal justice system to deal with the mentally ill offender during incarceration.
In today’s society, jails and prisons have
The officer’s encounter with people who are
become a dumping ground for offenders
mentally ill on a daily basis, sometimes it
who suffer a mental illness. Overcrowding
takes away from the traditional public safety
and lack of training and equipment in the
roles. There needs to the increased attention
institutions make it hard for inmates to get
and implementation of programs that would
the proper care that they need for their
identify mentally ill individuals involved in
disease. Mental health professionals, law
the criminal justice to improve the process
enforcement, and correctional institutions
of connecting individuals with appropriate
need to develop strategies and work together
community based on treatments. Another
to lessen the impact that mentally ill have on
issues within the system is the training of
the criminal justice system, including the
the officer on how to deal with those with
use of mental health courts to help
mental illness. The officer should be
determine the severity of individual cases to
training to divert mental illness into
lead them in the right path for rehabilitation,
intervention programs that help with their
incarceration, and treatment. In the article, it
mental health needs without arresting them
shows how mental illness is a big issues in
or putting them in jail.
the criminal justice system and it affects the
In the article, it discusses how the
to connect with the mentally ill rather than
mental illness is a huge part of the jail and
arresting them or resolving the situation. As
prison populations. There are a series of
officer Dart describes in the article, mental
stores in the USA Today that explore the
illness health and crime is a cycle of arrest
human and financial costs the country pays
and incarceration which leads to jail and no
for a lot of Americans with serious mental illness while incarceration. For example, Chicago’s Cook County Jail as the largest detention system and also holding cell for a great amount of mentally ill offenders. Sheriff Dart gave an example on a “chronic self-mutilator” that was arrested over 100
bail money. Implications for the officers
times and his repeated arrests allowed him
would be the need for more training and
to waste $1 million in cost related to his
education in order to handle those larger
arrests. (Johnson, 2014) The importance of
percentage of offender diagnosed with
the officer’s time dedicated to the mentally
mental illness.
disturbed takes time from the true crimes being committed. In law enforcement, the officer
For example, the bar graphs show the percentage of prisoners diagnosed with
should be trained properly to handle those
particular illness and it shows depressive
mentally ill offender and in addition to
disorder is most common. Generally the
training have the proper education. The
research finds that people with mental
officers with college degree are more likely
illness come into the justice system for the
same reasons as those without mental
creates a positive outcome. Most of mental
illness, that is, they are committing criminal
illness never disappears and they live with
offenses (Becker et al, 2011). It’s critical to
the burden for years that they must accept
address the offender’s environment and
for life of medications and treatment to
social supporters because the whole context
reduce chances of incarceration.
of the mentally ill offender are different so it’s important to know them as a person. Instead of putting these offenders back in society the criminal justice system should have more resources to reduce the recidivism. Mental Health assistance should be provided even after the offender is discharged to help them live a normal life. In conclusion, the impact of the criminal justice system and mentally ill have one another, it would be helpful to educate all professionals involved on how to properly train them. This would be helpful to educate all professionals involved on how to properly train them. The criminal justice system should know and understand about the mentally ill, the officers should be able to help and treat them in a manner that
wanted to develop a way to monitor juveniles offenders would show up to places on time. It was viewed as a form of positive reinforcement and they created a system in which offenders would wear radio devices that communicated where they are. The corrections officials seek solutions to
Emerging Technology:
overcrowded prisons and this method is used to keep the less violent offender out of
Ankle Monitoring
jails and prisons. First used in 1983, the ankle monitoring has
The ankle monitoring is commonly used for
been utilized in all aspect of the court
house arrest, as well as other types of legal
system to help reduce overcrowding. In my
ruling. The monitor is placed on the ankle
practicum this semester, I observed
which is designed to be tamper resistant and
offenders wearing the ankle monitoring in
worn at all times. It uses a radio frequency
the Chatham 360 program and how the
signal to communicate back to the
alerts the office when the monitor is
monitoring system.
tampered with. The cost of the monitor is less than $6 a day versus a prison stay. Incarceration
In 1960’s, twin brothers Robert and Kirk cost outweighs the cost of the monitor and Gable started studying psychology and house arrest. Putting a person in prison can
cost over $20,000 a year. The monitor should be used to reduce the prison overcrowding by using the ankle monitor.
References 1. Johnson, Kevin (2014, July). Mental illness cases swamp criminal justice system. (2017, April). Retrieved from:
4. Anderson, E. (2014, May 24). North Carolina Public Radio. Retrieved fromhttp://www.npr.org/2014/05/22/ 314874232/the-history-of-electronicmonitoring-device.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/new s/nation/2014/07/21/mental-illnesslaw-enforcement-cost-of-notcaring/9951239/
5. Hirby, J. (2017, April 26). The Law Dictatinary. Retrieved fromhttp://thelawdictionary.org/artic le/how-does-a-house-arrest-ankle-
2. Becker, M., Constantine, B., Andel,
bracelet-work
R., & Boaz. (2011). Gender differences and risk of arrest among offenders with serious mental illness. Journal of Behavioral Health
6. Earley. (2015). ACA's 145th Congress of Correction. Corrections Today, 54-56.
Services 7. Pope, L. (2016, March 7). Retrieved 3. Moodian, M. (2016, February 23). from Think Justice blog: The Shameful State of the Mentally https://www.vera.org/blog/rethinkigIll in Our Jail System mental-illness-and-its-path-to-thecriminal-justice-system
References continued 8. Stevenson, B. (2014). Just. New York: Penguin Random House.
9. Urban Institue.org. (2007). Retrieved from urbaninstitute.org
10.