Police Learn to Honor Mentally Ill Human Rights, Ending Excessive Force, Jail`
by Deborah Dupre for The Examiner:
Police have been using excessive force on mentally ill Americans and victims have become justifiably terrified they will be next to experience this human rights abuse that has turned into a $9 billion prison racket. One state, however, is implementing a new way to manage this abuse, according to news reports on Wednesday and Brave New Films has documented the disturbing old police ways as well as hopeful new results of police crisis intervention training.
This City Came Up With a Simple Solution to Homelessness: Housing
By Kara Dansky for The Nation:
Kilee Lowe was sitting in a park when cops picked her up and booked her into jail overnight.
After she got out the next morning, she returned to the park. The same officer who had thrown her into a cell not twenty-four hours before booked her again. It was back to jail for Kilee.
Kilee has been cycling in and out of the criminal justice system for years. After three and a half years in prison, she’s been homeless for a little over a year now.
Help, Not Incarceration
by Annie Wu for The Epoch Times:
NEW YORK—Anthony Cruz is a different man now that he has been locked up several times.
Before serving his 10-year sentence in New York state prisons for manslaughter in the first degree he was diagnosed with adjustment disorder and depression, among other mental health conditions. Cruz spent a total of three years in solitary confinement, but he said he was denied help from mental health staff in prison. Unless he had suicidal thoughts, he wasn’t allowed to talk to a psychiatrist.
Why Does the US Rely on Prisons as the Main Treatment for the Mentally Ill?
Brave New Films has a series Over-Criminalized, the first part of which is a look at defining mental illness as a crime worthy of prison time. Another film in the series looks at how homelessness is also a crime in much of the US. It’s as if the state and federal government and policymakers, have decided that the police are best equipped to deal with social problems, by locking people away, much as in international affairs the US relies mostly on its military to deal with the challenges of international relations. If your primary reflex is armed response, every problem looks like an enemy and every approach to solving it is treated as a war.
Why do Politicians spend $9 billion a year to Jail the Mentally Ill?
by Juan Cole for Informed comment:
“Instead of helping the mentally ill, police often put them behind bars. Watch how one police department is making a positive difference.
It’s simple. Diversion programs work better than incarceration – for everyone. In cities like Seattle, San Antonio, and Salt Lake City, we see that successful solutions are a viable option to help end serious social problems. These services alter the course of people’s lives in a positive way and save taxpayers huge amounts of money. We cannot continue to isolate and imprison people who suffer from mental illness, substance abuse, or homelessness. We must treat them with compassion and care to better serve our communities and our pocketbooks.
Here’s What Happened When Once City Gave Homeless People Shelter Instead of Throwing Them in Jail
by Paul Miller for Authentically Wired:
Kilee Lowe was sitting in a park when cops picked her up and booked her into jail overnight.
After she got out the next morning, she returned to the park. The same officer who had thrown her into a cell not 24 hours before booked her again. It was back to jail for Kilee.
Kilee has been cycling in and out of the criminal justice system for years. After three and a half years in federal prison, she’s been homeless for a little over a year now.
“Just because I don’t have a credit card in my pocket,” she says, “does not make me a criminal.”
Diet Koch? No, the Koch Diet: Hot Coals for Hungry Leftist Mouths
by Ari. L Noonan for The Front Page Online
Members of the Culver City Democratic Club are scheduled to raise their loudest cheers in months at Wednesday’s meeting when Culver City-based Brave New Films unveils a stinging updated demonization of the Koch brothers.
For several reasons, the club’s assured reaction is regrettable. Charles and David are more charitable than almost any individual Americans, hidden more strenuously than the identity of the killer of the Lindbergh baby. They are brilliantly operating, generous, well-liked employers.
How to Stop Incarcerating the Mentally Ill and Start Helping Them
Overcriminalized Video posted on RH Reality Check:
Many people who struggle with a mental illness are unnecessarily arrested because police officers are not properly trained to handle a mental health crisis.OverCriminalized, produced by Brave New Films, details how the mentally ill are treated within the justice system, and one department’s answer to helping both police officers and those who struggle with a mental illness.
How to end Poverty for Millions of Americans
by Linsey Pecikonis for Huffington Post:
Meet Erica Jackson. She's a single mother trying to raise her adorable son in southern California. Not only does she struggle to provide for her son, but she's concerned about her future.
Like Erica, there are 2.3 million American women who struggle to support their family by working for minimum wage.
The Pernicious 'War on Drugs' Is behind America's Staggeringly High Female Prison Population
by Cliff Weathers for San Diego Free Press:
Women make up nearly 9% of the U.S. prison population and about a third of them are serving time for drug offenses, according to two recent studies. Moreover, with just over 200,000 women behind bars, U.S. prisons incarcerate a third of all female prisoners worldwide.