Jailing the Mentally Ill

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1 July 2000

By
Stephen Smith

In 1880, the United States Census said 99% of the nation's 'insane persons' lived at home or in asylums. Only a few hundred were in jail. In 1999, the United States Justice Department stated that 280,000 people with serious mental illnesses were in jail or prison--more than four times the number in state mental hospitals. Have America's jails become today's mental hospitals?

Click the link below to hear more:

http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/mentally_ill/

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The Carter Center, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide. A nongovernmental organization, the Center has helped to improve life for people in more than 70 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy and human rights; preventing diseases; improving mental health care; and teaching farmers to increase crop production.