Even if an inmate's sentence is not oppressively long, their treatment while incarcerated can still constitute subhuman treatment. Prisons are not medical facilities, but they regularly are forced to deal with mental health problems and care for elderly and terminally ill inmates. Food, if it's even edible, usually lacks enough nutrition for inmates' health to not deteriorate. Plus, with a lack of opportunities to see family, read, or gain skill sets, inmates are placed in buildings which lack any resemblance of the civilized world.
“It’s not unusual for jails large and small to release inmates after dark or in the early hours of the morning. For many people released before daybreak, the hours that follow are difficult, dangerous, and sometimes deadly. Many hit the streets without phones, money, a ride, or knowledge of local public transportation, if it’s still running. They may be struggling with addiction or mental health issues; some have no place to go.“
Mother Jones
July 31, 2019
Read More“According to a study released in 2017 by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, nearly half the people held in jails suffer from some kind of mental illness, and more than a quarter have a severe condition, such as bipolar disorder. The same year, the bureau reported that about two-thirds of sentenced jail inmates suffer from drug addiction or dependency; that number was based on data from 2007-09, so it does not take into account the recent catastrophic rise of opioid addiction. That epidemic and other public-health emergencies, in jails across the country, are being aggravated by failings in the criminal-justice system.“
The New Yorker
February 25, 2019
Read More“Denying treatment has proved fatal in jails and prisons across the country. ‘People who re-enter the community after a period of incarceration are 50 to 120 times more likely to overdose and die than the general population. This is because they go through detoxification and withdrawal, diminishing their tolerance,’ Leo Beletsky, a professor of law and of health sciences at Northeastern University, told The Appeal.“
The Appeal
October 11, 2018
Read More"New Jersey, however, is trying to solve this issue. It is one of the first states in the country to devote an entire prison to treating inmates with addictions, and offers all three forms of medication-assisted treatment at all state prisons. The state is also working on introducing the treatment into county jails. The Acting Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Corrections, Marcus O. Hicks, talks about the state’s new strategy for handling incarceration and addiction. "
The Takeaway
August 20, 2018
Read More"Some 300 of the nation's roughly 3,200 or jails and 1,900 prisons now offer some form of addiction medication to select inmates, according U.S. Department of Justice data."
ABC 6 Ohio
August 7, 2018
Read More"In Bucks County, 245 out of its 815 inmates are in some kind of drug or alcohol treatment program, attending AA or NA meetings, group therapy or other designated programs, correction officials said. Although about 75 percent of the jail population faces addiction issues, not all of them want treatment, and for the majority of them the programs are voluntary."
WITF Harrisburg
July 12, 2018
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