The New York Times (5/12, A13, Williams, Subscription Publication) reports that a report by Human Rights Watch to be released today shows that inmates with mental illnesses incarcerated “across the United States are subjected to routine physical abuse by guards, including being doused with chemical sprays, shocked with electronic stun guns and strapped for hours to chairs or beds.” The report contends that the mistreatment “has led to deaths, though the number of casualties is unclear in part because jails and prisons classify them in various ways.” The report also found that “jails and prisons are not uniformly required to report the use of force by guards.” The Times points out that a Justice Department study “found that 75 percent of women and 50 percent of men in state penitentiaries, and 75 percent of women and 63 percent of men in local jails, will suffer from a mental health problem requiring services in any given year.”
Related Links:
— “Mentally Ill Inmates Are Routinely Physically Abused, Study Says,” Timothy Williams, New York Times, May 12, 2015.