Death Of Inmate With Schizophrenia Raises Questions About How California Jails Handle Mental Illnesses

In a greater than 1,700-word story, the Los Angeles Times (8/24, St. John) chronicles the story of Andrew Holland, an inmate with schizophrenia at the San Luis Obispo County jail. The man was “shackled to a chair” at the jail for “46 hours” during which he was naked, “left in his own filth,” and “eating and drinking almost nothing.” Within 40 minutes of being freed from the chair, he died. That death, which occurred on Jan. 22, “has provoked outrage in the Central Coast county, a record $5-million legal settlement, and questions about the way California jails handle a sharp increase in the number of” inmates with mental illnesses.

Related Links:

— “Naked, filthy and strapped to a chair for 46 hours: a mentally ill inmate’s last days,” Paige St. John, Los Angeles Times, August 24, 2017.

Posted in In The News.