Talent and Other Patient Atrocities

Circa 1982 I had drawn a picture of Saddam Hussein while I was in the psychiatric hospital. I did it because I wanted to see how far my skills had come. I had copied it from a news magazine. When the therapists saw it, they were aghast that I had become a follower of Hussein. The only thing it showed me, in my mind, was how stupid and provincial were the people who were taking care of me. Fortunately, after some questioning, the doctors saw it for what it was – a drawing taken from an otherwise barren environment. 

Similarly for my judge regarding my writing – “A window to the mind!” she declared. “I must protect society!” So, instead of developing skills that would entertain my readers, I stuck closely to factual accounts as I could render them and never tried anything else lest she put me in a maximum-security psychiatric facility for years. So much for First Amendment rights.

Doesn’t a doctor get any say in this? For example, later when we asked for dismissal of the case a few years ago, my doctor wrote a report and submitted it to the court with our request. The judge ignored it and took it upon herself to rule against us – no second opinions from a second doctor.

But there was a time when I was in love with a beautiful woman from Ukraine. She wanted to marry me and have me move to Ukraine with her. She was a successful author there, and on one of her trips back she took me on a Skype tour of her house. Lovely. I told my Probation Officer. His response was that the judge (same one) may not allow me to return to the US. (And see my family, for example. My family was always there in the hard times.) This was too much for me, so I ended my relationship with her.

I am not a criminal. What do we do about this?

David Geiger is a licensed and awarded electrical engineer who spent 7 years in psychiatric hospitals and over 40 years since 1979 in the courts as a result of his schizophrenia.

Persona Non Grata

Just a short time back, COVID-19 aside, it was graduation time for all – grammar schools, high schools, colleges, and universities, and more. It was also graduation time for those of the College Initiative program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, specifically, the Institute of Justice and Opportunity. The CI program supports formerly incarcerated and court-involved men and women in enrolling and succeeding in college. This year 24 men and women completed in total 8 associate degrees, 12 bachelor’s degrees, and 5 master’s degrees from a range of CUNY schools and private colleges.

I give them credit. It is not just course material that is difficult. It is also the prejudices that exist in society against the mentally ill and those system-involved. I speak from experience.

I am going to tell you a story. This part of the story can be found in chapter 58: “The Struggle Begins” of my book In the Matter of Edwin Potter: Mental Illness and Criminal Justice Reform.

Edwin Potter was a man with schizophrenia that got him into serious trouble with the law. Now he had been reporting to a local Clinic for Mental Health for six years since his release from the hospital. His social worker pulled some strings to have two psychologists from the Clinic interview him and recommend to the Court that his case be dismissed. Edwin did very well at his interviews, and a report was submitted to the Court with the desired request. Three days later without an interview, a second report was submitted to the judge telling frightful tales about Edwin.

In the courtroom, Edwin’s attorney, Daniel Aaron, pursued his questioning about the two reports:

“Tell me, doctor,” began Daniel Aaron, “how many times did you personally examine Mr. Potter?”

“Once.”

“And yet you wrote two reports.”

There was no response from the Doctor.

“Did you write two reports, Doctor?”

“Yes! I did!”

“And did you find in your examination, Doctor, that Mr. Potter just recently received his Master’s degree in Engineering?”

“He only thinks he received his master’s degree!”

“I assure you, Doctor, that he received it. I have copies of the reports from the University.”

Although Daniel Aaron made his arguments about bias and discrimination, the judge did not dismiss the case.

So, prejudices existed against Edwin even from professionals who should know better. The doctor had tried to portray Edwin as some typical “mental patient” living with the delusion that he had an advanced degree. And the judge, too, held his own prejudices in not dismissing the case. And yet, Edwin prevailed.

David Geiger is a licensed electrical engineer who spent 7 years in psychiatric hospitals and over 40 years since 1979 in the courts as a result of his schizophrenia.

A Note On Language

From The John Jay College Institute for Justice and Opportunity (The Institute)

On Wednesday, April 29th, 2020, the Institute for Justice and Opportunity (formerly known as the Prisoner Reentry Institute at John Jay College of Criminal Justice) released a report: Mapping the City University of New York: The University's Commitment to Students Impacted by the Criminal Legal System. The report details the scope of CUNY's policies and programs for students impacted by the criminal legal system and explores opportunities for CUNY to better support those students. What follows comes from that report and also applies to those with brain illness who are system-involved.

As topics related to criminal justice reform receive increasing attention and support, consideration must also be given to the language used to describe the people impacted by the system and the system itself. In this report, we’ve chosen to adopt the term criminal legal system, rather than criminal justice system. The omission of the word “justice” is a reflection of the growing acknowledgment that our systems of criminalization, policing, prosecution, and punishment are not always “just.”[1] Instead, these systems much more accurately involve legal practice, and we chose to adopt terminology that describes just that.

We also urge the use of person-first language in all discussions related to supporting the experiences of people impacted by the criminal legal system. Person-first language avoids the conscious or subconscious nominalization of someone based on a single characteristic.[2] Words like “criminal,” “convict,” “felon,” “inmate,” and “prisoner” are powerful. They possess the ability to restrict people to categories that do not speak to their larger human identity and reinforce existing stereotypes about people with conviction histories.

From Time Special Edition Mental Health: A New Understanding

“Now consider the words we use to describe the people who exhibit [mental disorders]. It’s not just ‘crazy,’ ‘kooky,’ or ‘bonkers,’ which have little intrinsic meaning outside of their applications to mental illness. There are ‘cracked,’ ‘unhinged’ and ‘unbalanced,’ words for a thing that is broken. There are ‘deranged,’ ‘unsound’ and ‘berserk,’ words of imminent menace. And there are words that strip humanity entirely: the person who ‘goes ape,’ the person who is ‘batty.’ Imagine referring to a cancer patient as some kind of animal. We don’t. We wouldn’t. But the person with a mental illness? Sure.”[6]

From The Institute

The power of language was recognized by John Jay College President Karol Mason when she was the U.S. Assistant Attorney General, heading the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs. President Mason issued an agency-wide policy directing the Office of Justice Programs to replace words like “felon” and “offender” with person-first language in an effort to “solidify the principles of individual redemption and second chances that our society stands for.”[3] More recently, the Berkeley Underground Scholars Initiative, a group of formerly incarcerated and system-impacted academics at the University of California, Berkeley, created a terminology guide for communicating about those impacted by the criminal legal system.[4] The Underground Scholars terminology guide grew from the work of the late Eddie Ellis, founder, and director of the Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions; a research training and advocacy think tank committed to elevating the full humanity and potential of all people.[5] 

In short, we have learned that language matters. As we continue to advance the dialogue about the importance of education and the City University of New York’s (CUNY) role in supporting people who have been impacted by the criminal legal system, we will be using person-first language throughout this document. In doing so, we acknowledge and recognize the complexity of experiences of students on our campuses, where system-involvement may sit at the intersection of multiple identities.

Experiences with the criminal legal system vary among New Yorkers, and more specifically among CUNY students. There are students enrolled in the University who have been incarcerated and are now released, students who have been arrested but were not convicted, students who have been deeply affected by police practices including stop and frisk, and those whose family members or friends have been directly impacted. This is in addition to students taking CUNY classes at several correctional facilities across the city and state.

For the purpose of this report, we are using the term system-involved to describe individuals who have experienced direct contact with the criminal legal system through an arrest, conviction, and/or incarceration. We use system-impacted to describe individuals who have direct contact and/or have a family member or friend who has experienced contact with the criminal legal system. Both terms encapsulate the range of individual experiences with the system. Additionally, we recognize that there are many systems that impact our students, like the immigration and foster-care systems. Our use of the term system, in this report, references the impact of the criminal legal system in the lives of students.

Recognizing the power of language, we changed our name from the Prisoner Reentry Institute to the Institute for Justice and Opportunity in April 2020. Our new name better reflects our values and our mission to create opportunities for people to live successfully in the community after involvement with the criminal legal system. We collaborated with staff from all of our programs and surveyed students and partners at multiple points throughout the process until we ultimately decided on the Institute for Justice and Opportunity. Whereas the words “prisoner” and “reentry” carry negative connotations and speak to a singular narrative, the words “justice” and “opportunity” create space for us to envision students in relation to the environments where the opportunities for success and transformation are abundant—such as college and community. The Institute for Justice and Opportunity speaks to the many opportunities that are facilitated by our programs, services, and advocacy, and speaks to our continuing work toward a more just society.

footnotes

[1] Benjamin Levin, “Rethinking the Boundaries of ‘Criminal Justice’,” Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law 15, no. 619 (2018): 620; Lucy Lang, “The Punishment Bureaucracy Has Nothing to Do With Justice,” Slate, last modified November 18, 2019.

[2] Valerie Johnson, “Why Nonprofits Need to Switch to Person-first Language Immediately,” Generocity, accessed September 9, 2019.

[3] Tom Jackman, “Guest Post: Justice Department Agency to Alter its Terminology for Released Convicts, to Ease Reentry,” the Washington Post, accessed September 9, 2019.

[4] “Language Guide for Communicating About Those Involved in the Carceral System,” News, Berkeley Underground Scholars, accessed September 9, 2019.

[5] “Language Letter Campaign,” Human Justice Campaigns, Center for Nuleadership on Urban Solutions, accessed November 25, 2019. 5A NOTE ON LANGUAGE

[6] David Bjerklie, “Finding the Right Words,” Time Special Edition Mental Health: A New Understanding. October 2018 (Not a part of the original Institute report – DG)

David Geiger is a licensed electrical engineer who spent 7 years in psychiatric hospitals and over 40 years since 1979 in the courts as a result of his schizophrenia.

Dreams

Sixty-six years old is a late time – in my estimation – to be dreaming about things. (There are those who disagree with me.) I was a young man once, filled with ideas of changing the world, being somebody great. I did well in school, winning awards and recognitions, but there was much criticism about me from my family. I was never good enough. I entertained suicidal thoughts in my teens and early 20s, so being great was a hard row to hoe. If you have these problems, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255.

Then came mental illness, and everything changed. Even though they were hard to live with, my parents continued to support me after I went to the psychiatric hospital, to court, to trial. It was my father who had been hardest on me, but it was also he who offered me a new path to follow on this journey. He bought a how-to-draw book for me to work with in my cell. I loved it and kept at it. Today I still work at it. One of my drawings is attached, one of my favorites.

Herma, though, was the psychiatric nurse who changed my life. She took an interest in me like no one else. I learned to believe in myself and to develop my skills and personality. It was she who told me to write my book. I started by writing articles for Mensa.

But the point I want to make here is not to give up your dreams. There is someone out there who is willing to help you. So, stay well. Don’t give up.

David Geiger is a licensed electrical engineer who spent 7 years in psychiatric hospitals and over 40 years since 1979 in the courts as a result of his schizophrenia.

Defunding the Police is a Bad Idea

Defunding the police is a bad idea. We have had some form of policing for thousands of years for a reason: to protect the ruling class and the community who, if left unprotected, would then threaten the ruling class. We found in the 1960s – and confirmed again just recently – that if rioters and looters were left to themselves, they would steal everything and burn the place to the ground.

So, this calls for reform where the parties involved sit down at a table and negotiate their interests. This does work, one example being that of the New York City Housing Authority where criminal system-involved individuals cannot get housing in NYCHA properties even if they have family there as their only means of support. Prisoner Re-entry Institute (now Institute for Justice and Opportunity at John Jay College of Criminal Justice) sat down at the table and negotiated a reform. My interests are mental illness and criminal justice reform. It seems that criminal justice reform has gained many supporters. Mental illness is still trailing, so we are still treated like criminals. IJO will address this after they get their feet on the ground with the new organization.

My way of addressing these issues is to write to my elected officials. This works – most of the time. I wrote to my NJ State representatives, and I heard from each one of them. I heard from President Donald Trump – twice! – on both mental illness and criminal justice reform with summit meetings and legislation as the result. I even heard from NY State Governor Andrew Cuomo. I did not hear from my Congressional representatives: Robert Menendez, Cory Booker, and Bill Pascrell. I will not be voting for them in the next election.

All of those who marched in the streets and called for change should do one thing: get off of their butts in November and VOTE. This is the system that has been developed to address these things. It works for me.

David Geiger is a licensed electrical engineer who spent 7 years in psychiatric hospitals and over 40 years since 1979 in the courts as a result of his schizophrenia.

We Stand in Solidarity

(I received an email from Ann Jacobs, Executive Director at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, just recently regarding the murders of George Floyd and others. I am certain that she includes those with mental illness as well. It follows here.)

Dear Friend,

The recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and Tony McDade are painful reminders of the fundamental racism and violence of this country. We mourn the loss of these lives, the long list of names of people killed at the hands of police, and the many people lost whose names have never been recognized. These incidents are the product of centuries of oppression that have normalized the killing and dehumanization of Black and Brown people in America.
 
While we mourn the loss of these individual lives, we must also confront the fact that this represents only a fraction of the injustices perpetrated regularly against Black and Brown people. The response by police to the protests of the last week is just one example. We condemn the violence of police, as well as those voices who would focus on property damage rather than the loss of Black lives. And we reject those who would expend their voice in judgment about the nature of the protest instead of joining their voice in solidarity.
 
Every day at the Institute for Justice and Opportunity, we see the carnage of structural and institutional racism—in education, employment, housing, healthcare, and the criminal legal system. It is all wrong and it must end. We cannot continue with the status quo where Black and Brown lives are not valued. We cannot let the pain of this moment pass and return to business as usual. We are committed to seizing this moment as an opportunity for change.
 
The Institute for Justice and Opportunity stands with all who seek justice, accountability, and an end to racism. Our mission is to be a champion of institutional, structural, and personal transformation and to open doors and eliminate barriers to success for people who have been involved in the criminal legal system. Yet, we cannot be successful in our mission without confronting racism at all levels. We stand in solidarity with the #BlackLivesMatter movement and all who seek to #EndRacism. Together, we must and will do better.

In solidarity, 
Ann Jacobs
Executive Director, Institute for Justice and Opportunity

At John Jay College of Criminal Justice

(David Geiger is a licensed electrical engineer who spent 7 years in psychiatric hospitals and over 40 years since 1979 in the courts as a result of his schizophrenia.)

No Sympathy for Those With Schizophrenia

My wife and I have been truly fortunate despite COVID-19. We are well. We have jobs that help others. (She as a nurse case manager. Me as a grocery clerk.) We pay our bills. There is food on the table.

Nevertheless, there are many who are not as fortunate as we are, but I am not happy. I have a different illness, one that does not garner sympathy. People do not understand that those who are in psychiatric hospitals and many of those in prisons have brain illnesses. I get this way every year as my court review date draws near. The judge has made it clear that she will never let me go because I have schizophrenia which is, as she says, incurable. This does not address the medical issues. In this situation the news does not support me, does not fight for me – fight for us who are caught in this situation. Would they do that to one who has heart disease or diabetes? Except for a precious few, they and others ignore us. I know this firsthand. Who will tell our stories for the sake of our children? As for me I wrote a book for them.

All that I have done in my life, then, has all been done for naught – my scholarships, my professional accomplishments, and my awards. I can get a job only if I do not tell the employer about my court involvement. I tell them that I have an illness. I asked the court what they are going to do to help me through this re-entry into society, and there was no answer. My judge went one step farther and took my two adult children away from me because I was sending them Hallmark cards once per month.

Despite all of this I make some small donations to Doctors without Borders, Inner-city Scholarship Fund, and Paulist Prison Ministries in the hope they will make a difference. You may want to give to SARDAA.

Read my book. You will understand.

PRI Changes Its Name

Back in the summer of 2017 I took a ride in the car and distributed 52 copies of my book In the Matter of Edwin Potter: Mental Illness and Criminal Justice Reform to various colleges and universities, big and small. Twenty-five copies went to northern New Jersey, and 27 went to Westchester County and New York City. I visited departments of criminal justice, law, psychiatry, psychiatric nursing, psychology, social work, and a few libraries. This may explain some of the current growing public discussion on mental illness and criminal justice reform.

Of those 52 people I developed a relationship with one that has lasted over the years since 2013: The Prisoner Re-entry Institute at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City which is part of the City University of New York – CUNY for short. Ann Jacobs was Director, now Executive Director, of the Institute when I met her. It so happens that PRI just changed its name in April 2020 to the Institute for Justice and Opportunity. The reason for it is that “PRI” no longer accurately describes the scope of their work. From the April 27 email notification that I received:

“The words "justice" and "opportunity" are intentionally aspirational. They declare the purpose that animates all of our work — our direct service to over 1,000 people a year, our technical assistance and training programs, and our policy advocacy. We do not adopt the word "justice" lightly. We recognize that the criminal legal system often falls very short of providing justice for all. So, just as we are rebranding ourselves, we think it is time to rebrand justice. We put "justice" in our new name because we are working toward creating equitable access to authentic justice and opportunity.”

From the Project Overview to the report Mapping the City University of New York: The University's Commitment to Students Impacted by the Criminal Legal System released April 29, 2020: “The foundational goal of this project is to understand how CUNY can better support the success of students who have experienced contact with the criminal legal system.”

Nevertheless, I asked Ann how the mentally ill fit into their plans as the latter always seems to get the short end of the stick. She emailed back, “David:  You asked a very thought-provoking question.  The answer is partially the point you make in your last sentence [i.e., “or do you want to get this rolling and include them later?” - DG] --we started where we did to gain some visibility for our population and to develop relationships across campuses and with CUNY Central.  Our plan is to build on that foundation in a number of directions, which will include addressing issues like mental health and homelessness.  I appreciate your observation.”

CUNY takes pride in not asking about the incarceration history of its applicants. Maybe that is why we get along so well.

Click here to download the report.

“Brains on the Beach” Update/Prison Reform in Alabama Update

Back on March 21, 2020, SARDAA held its “Brains on the Beach” conference regarding its efforts and reasons for pursuing the reclassification of schizophrenia as a brain illness. As this date was during the COVID-19 pandemic, the physical conference was not held. It was done virtually instead. The full conference can be accessed through the following link: https://sardaa.mykajabi.com/offers/GFL4Kkoi/checkout.

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On another matter, there was a study on Criminal Justice Policy done in Alabama. Champ Lyons, Jr., Supernumerary Associate Justice with the Supreme Court of Alabama, was the point man in the study. The report from the Study Group, which I have in my possession, was submitted to AL Governor Kay Ivey on January 29, 2020. The specific recommendations were for DOC Operations, Sentencing Reform, and Recidivism Reduction.

Prior to that, it was reported by WHNT News that the US Department of Justice released a report in June 2019 that Alabama’s prisons were violating the Eighth Amendment (cruel or unusual punishment). AL Governor Kay Ivey planned to build three large men’s prisons to address Alabama’s failing prison system. This was opposed by AL House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels who was adamant about implementing comprehensive prison reform which included programs like mental health for the incarcerated (SARDAA blog; July 21, 2019). It was probably from here that the Lyons’ study ensued.

I first advocated for education and mentoring in May 1998 and added recidivism reduction since October 1999. You can find quite a few of these articles in IMprint, a Mensa newsletter, and more recently, the SARDAA website blog.

All of these topics are important. My interest is in education, mentoring, and reducing recidivism for all including the mentally ill. I included Chapter 104 “Reducing Recidivism” in my book In the Matter of Edwin Potter: Mental Illness and Criminal Justice Reform, and I sent the book to Governor Ivey just recently. I have done this before with other public officials and got results. Let us see what happens this time.

Regarding Barriers to Higher Education

I tell the stories of those trying to stay out of prison. My own story includes the message that I am very fortunate not to have a criminal record and to have a college education.

Back in May 1998, I wrote my first article advocating education and mentorship. Today I have two articles from Inside Higher Ed (www.insidehighered.com) that indicate the value of an education to those who are in prison.

The first one — “A prisoner describes his and other inmates’ struggles for access to higher education” — is written by Lyle C. May who is incarcerated. He received a private investment to complete an associate degree in arts in 2013 at Ohio University. He writes that the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (Get Tough on Crime) enacted by President Clinton eliminated Pell Grants for post-secondary correctional education. As a result, most college-in-prison programs disappeared. “Today, in 25 states, no college programs are available to prisoners,” he writes. The Act deterred most rehabilitative programming. Prisoners were in prison “to be punished and held for the duration of a sentence. Nothing more.” The beliefs that ended Pell Grants “are vengeful, frenzied appeals toward draconian laws that most modern democracies left in the annals of history… [they] do not advance criminal justice nor make communities safer.” He opines that the Second Chance Pell pilot program and the First Step Act (the latter I may have had a part in) are “just baby steps up the side of the mountain.”

 The second article — “A new study illuminates why the barriers to higher education that incarcerated people confront should be removed (opinion)” — was submitted by Sarah Bray:

 “The new study by the Council of State Governments Justice Center (Megan Quattlebaum, Director) with support from Lumina Foundation (Haley Glover, Strategy Director) highlights a variety of barriers to education that appear in state law and the rules and regulations of departments of corrections. Few states are spared in the report. As many as 25 states bar people who are incarcerated from educational opportunities because of the length of sentence they’re serving. Twelve states restrict educational opportunities because of the type of crime people were convicted of. Overall, just 10 states allow access to all educational opportunities in their correctional facilities.”

 Some notes from the articles:

• Barriers are not eliminated when people leave prison. Half of all public universities require applicants to disclose their criminal history. More than 1/3 of states limit access to state-based financial aid for those who have a criminal record or who have been convicted of specific crimes.

• People who participate in prison ed are 13% more likely to get a job than those who don’t.

Similarly, in my July 2019 article “Prison Reform in Alabama,” Cam Ward (R-Alabaster) was sponsoring a bill that would remove more than 700 sections of code from the Alabama constitution that restricts jobs that people can get after being released from prison. How can a person freed from prison become a contributing member of society if the law bars him from getting a job or an education? In late January 2020, the results of a study were presented to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey. More on that maybe next time.

Testimony to the Presidential Law Enforcement Commission

From Janet Hays; CEO of Healing Minds, NOLA

The President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice is currently accepting written statements through March 31, 2020, at 5:00 PM EST.

On March 23rd, John Snook - Executive Director of the Treatment Advocacy Center - gave testimony to the Presidential Law Enforcement Commission on the criminalization of mental illness. John was a keynote speaker at our first annual conference last year where he discussed the heavy burden placed upon Law Enforcement due to the lack of programs, services, and facilities needed to treat and care for people with serious mental illnesses. Archived here. 

You can submit your own recommendations to the following questions by clicking the link below. 

Please don't forget to mention funding for Assisted Outpatient Treatment, an evidence-based intervention for reducing the dire consequences of non-treatment like repeat hospitalization, violence, and suicide.

Thank you! 

• How do certain social ills such as mental illness, substance abuse, and homelessness affect the ability of law enforcement to police?

• How can we improve officer recruitment, training, and retention?

• What are the major issues confronting rural and tribal law enforcement?

• What are the major issues affecting the physical safety and mental health of police officers?

• How can federal grant programs aide state, local, and tribal law enforcement?

• What novel issues and criminal threats have arisen from new technologies?

• What is the cause of diminished respect for law enforcement and the laws they enforce, and how does it affect both police and public safety?

• What role can commercial business and community development organizations play in cultivating safe communities?

• What methodologies, techniques, and targeted deterrence can be employed to reduce crime?

• How can we integrate education, employment, social services, and public health services to reduce crime and ease the burden on law enforcement?

Homelessness and COVID-19

From Linda Stalters: 

Everyone is dealing with unprecedented uncertainty. DONATE NOW (www.sardaa.org) so that SARDAA can continue to help the individuals who are struggling the most at this time: the people living with schizophrenia and other neuropsychiatric brain illnesses. They need us now more than ever to help change these hard facts:

• The homeless are the most “at risk” for COVID-19 with underlying health problems and without the means to maintain hygiene or social distancing.

• 50% of all individuals receive no treatment.

• Schizophrenia patients within 5 years of diagnosis presently have only a 14% incidence of meaningful recovery.

• 50% of all patients with schizophrenia will attempt suicide.

• 10% will complete suicide.

SARDAA’s priorities:

• Cultivating more providers.

• Appropriate continuum of care including supportive housing nationwide.

• Advocating for systems of appropriate care leading to successful and productive lives and a pathway out of homelessness and elimination of criminalization.

• An increase in kindness.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Linda Stalters, MSN, APRN (ret)
Chief Executive Officer
Schizophrenia and Related Disorders Alliance of America

NY City Council's Plan to End Homelessness Includes PRI's Recommendations for NYCHA Reform

Note: The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is the largest public housing authority in the United States with nearly 180,000 units housing nearly 400,000 low-income individuals and families in 334 developments throughout the city.

(In SARDAA blog March 2, 2019, and IMprint in May 2019 I wrote about the New York City Housing Authority’s Permanent Exclusion policy which kept those leaving prison from finding housing in any of the NYCHA-controlled housing. This is a significant problem, usually leading to homelessness and return to prison. Some resolution was made recently as reported in the Prisoner Re-entry Institute newsletter 2-18-2020. The latest information is given here in its entirety from that.)

On January 30, 2020, City Council Speaker Cory Johnson and Councilmember Stephen Levin released their plan, Our Homelessness Crisis: The Case for Change. This 200-page report was the culmination of City Council’s interviews with a variety of stakeholders and advocates over the past year and a half to better understand and address the causes of homelessness. The report incorporated PRI’s recommendations to establish fairer exclusion and reentry policies at the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). The recommendations include:

• Permit more individuals to remain in their apartment after arrest.

• Protect families against tenancy terminations by ensuring Right to Counsel in NYCHA proceedings.

• Expand eligibility and funding for the NYCHA Family Reentry Program.

• Establish a best practices protocol for NYCHA home inspections following exclusion.

• Increase transparency and staff training regarding the lifting and administration of exclusions.

• Inform individuals of the date on which they are eligible to lift their exclusion and how to apply.

• Provide annual implicit bias and cultural competency training for NYCHA staff to progressively foster a more positive climate at NYCHA, encourage staff to challenge any existing biases and recognize the dignity and self-determination of all NYCHA residents.

PRI convenes a Working Group on NYCHA Permanent Exclusions, a cross-section of housing, legal services, and criminal justice organizations advocating for an end to NYCHA’s practice of evicting and excluding residents who come into contact with the criminal legal system.

For more information about PRI's policy work, contact Zoë Johnson, Policy Coordinator, at zjohnson@jjay.cuny.edu or 212.621.3741.

Bail Reform Update 2020

Back in April 2019 I wrote that one of the problems bringing about the need for bail reform is that the family breadwinner was usually the one who was put in jail without charges or trial, leaving his family with no financial support for a very long time. There was a plan at that time to educate these people during their incarceration, things like reading and speaking English – necessary job skills. But then as the result of bail reform they were released from jail in a matter of days, and the plan had to be dropped. The result was they were back in jail more often, again leaving their families with no financial support. 

Another problem was that bail reform reduced the ability of jails to enroll inmates in drug rehabilitation programs, a 30-day period to produce a drug-free inmate upon his release.

And the mentally ill are caught up in all of this. My suggestion at the time – a hard choice – was to keep inmates in jail until they finished their programs. Today I would add that funding needs to be budgeted for programs that would help to keep them out of jail.

On January 1, 2020 the State of New York implemented its bail reform plan. Everyone agreed that it was much needed, but there are problems with it, specifically, the need to predict “dangerousness” based upon the stories in the news about a few people who had committed violent crimes after getting out on bail. The counterargument is that these stories are being circulated by bail bondsmen who make their money by selling bail bonds and are now losing money.

This situation has some similarity to something years ago in New York City while Scott Stringer was Comptroller. He decided at that time to no longer invest City money into private prisons because it was a bad investment and “immoral” because the prison needed to get inmates from somewhere so they could get their money. So, they would press for longer sentences or get them right off the street.

My opinion is that “dangerousness” is a valid point, but I do not think that it is insurmountable. My suggestion to all of this now is that when setting bail, the court should have criminal records available to it regarding the individual. These should be considered when setting bail. If he is unknown to the court, he should be adjudged according to the severity of his crime.

Mental Illness and Suicide Prevention

Reported by a WebMD post dated December 16, 2019, the Federal Communications Commission has approved using 988 as a suicide prevention hotline. It is not in service yet. Sad to say, mental illness and suicide go hand-in-hand very much. So much so that in 2017 1.4 million people attempted it. Additionally, suicide rates increased in 49 of 50 states from 1999 to 2016. From the post, “The CDC says suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States with more than 47,000 deaths in 2017.” “It is the 4th leading cause of death for people ages 35 to 54,” reports the Washington Post (December 13, 2019, by Taylor Telford).

Says FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, “Suicide and attendant mental health challenges have received far too little attention for far too long. That is now changing. Anything we can do to break down the barriers, to make it easier for conversations about mental health and counseling, to feel within reach, is something we should do.”

“Those facts are not easy to hear,” FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said. “Because for those of us who have lost family or friends they loved – myself included – they are cruel reminders of birthdays missed, holidays gone and words of encouragement that were never received.”

Life is different in the psychiatric hospital. Family and friends abandon you, leaving you with loneliness, isolation, and despair – hopelessness. I attempted to take my own life in 1979, but I, too, remember someone who took his own life. I called him Frank Kirkland in my book In the Matter of Edwin Potter: Mental Illness and Criminal Justice Reform. He had so much going for him, but he turned to drugs. Now it is 20 years later, and it still brings tears to my eyes.

If there is someone you know who is crying for help, don’t wait until tomorrow. Those wee hours of the morning can be awful. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Or in New Jersey for a drug issue, call REACH NJ at 1-844-732-2465.

Headlines and Personal Stories

Talk about schizophrenia and criminal justice reform is growing: radio, TV news, commercials, and PSAs – This is great! I believe I had a hand in this, but we are not done. Looking at the headlines will show you how far we have come.

From the Gotham Gazette (Dec. 3, 2019): “With a Push from Cuomo and Funding from Vance, New York College-in-Prisons Program is Flourishing.” I first wrote to NY State Governor Andrew Cuomo back in August 2014 on reducing recidivism. I sent him my article “Reducing Recidivism” (originally written in October 1999 for Mensa and titled ”The Crime Solution”) following his February 2014 announcement of providing education to those in prison. Gov. Cuomo’s action was not a popular move at the time. As a note, I sent him a copy of my book In the Matter of Edwin Potter: Mental Illness and Criminal Justice Reform in February 2017 with the “Reducing Recidivism” article rewritten and included as chapter 104. I received a favorable response from his office in March 2017.

Also from the Gotham Gazette (Dec. 8, 2019): “Letter to the Editor: Next Step for New York College-in-Prison Program That Turned My Life Around.” This is the story of Stacy Burnett whose own prison experience taught her that she is “proof there can be no rehabilitation in prison without education” and that funding for such programs “must be a top priority if New York is serious about building safer communities.”

The New York Times wrote about “The Rikers Coffee Academy” where Rikers Prison inmates learn a skill to get a job and a better future.

“[New York] City Prepares for State Bail Reform Law, Sees Jail Population a Record Low – 6000” from NY1 (Dec. 27, 2019). I wrote about the pros and cons in March 2019 and received a thank you from Ann Jacobs this past month for my efforts as an advocate. She is now the Executive Director of the Prisoner Re-entry Institute at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

And so many more stories from around the nation that can be found in my SARDAA blog (www.sardaa.org). I think this is great, but so many articles leave out the mentally ill, those with brain illness. Are we seen as hopeless? I want to hear their stories. The public should hear them as well, and, to toot my own horn a little in an act of shameless self-promotion, they can start with my book, In the Matter of Edwin Potter: Mental Illness and Criminal Justice Reform, and begin to address the feeling of hopelessness that is so very often a part of having this illness.

Reclassifying Schizophrenia: A Conference in Florida

Linda Stalters, founder and CEO of Schizophrenia And Related Disorders Alliance of America, invited me to be a panelist at a SARDAA conference on reclassifying schizophrenia to be held in March 2020 in Hollywood, Florida. What follows are my current thoughts.

There is now a national conversation on mental illness and criminal justice reform. I may have had a hand in that starting back in May 1998 by submitting articles to IMprint, a Mensa newsletter, but more recently by reaching out to elected officials and John Jay College of Criminal Justice since 2013. Those stories some other time.

In 1979 I was 25 years old when I had my first battle with schizophrenia. I lost that battle. My wife died, and I severely injured my then-infant son. I went to trial, but the jury saw that I was suffering from an illness and acquitted me Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity. I then spent four years in a psychiatric hospital and, a couple of decades later, spent another three years in another such facility, always under the jurisdiction of the court.

Will reclassifying schizophrenia help people like me who are involved with the law as a result of psychosis? At present, it seems that I am a criminal, a miscreant, a behavioral problem in the eyes of the law. There are suggestions for diversionary action for those who break the law but seem to have brain illness. These suggestions are meant to avoid putting them into the criminal justice system. This is a start but having been through a trial in 1980 and under court supervision since that time, 40 years of good behavior has not softened the heart of the judge. The issue, as she has expressed it, is that there is currently no cure for schizophrenia and that increases the chance of relapse and menace to society, so I remain under court supervision.

But wait. Today’s medicine has brought us gene therapy, and the research of Dr. Deborah L. Levy, Director of the Psychology Research Laboratory at McLean Hospital which is the largest psychiatric affiliate of Harvard Medical School, provides a proof-of-principle demonstration of symptom relief by targeting a specific genotype and links an individual structural mutation to the pathophysiology of psychosis and treatment response. This is a hopeful discovery in that if we find one mutation that affects a small number of people there is hope to find more. It would be a great opportunity for personalized treatment and prevent specific brain diseases.

But it is only a start. Money is needed for further research. Reclassifying schizophrenia will not only bring that money, but it will also provide more hospital beds and reduce the number of those who are incarcerated for their illness. According to Alisa Roth, a journalist and author of Insane: America’s Criminal Treatment of Mental Illness, the three largest providers of mental health care are not hospitals but jails: Los Angeles County Jail, Cook County Jail, and Rikers Island in New York City. More recently, this last one is to be closed in a few years because of the mistreatment of its inmates.

So, will reclassifying schizophrenia help me and those like me? Yes.

2019 SARDAA Overview/ White House Coalition Meeting

From Linda Stalters:

SARDAA 2019 Initiatives

It's hard to believe that the year is coming to a conclusion so quickly, but we have much to reflect on and share.  Please view some of the initiatives SARDAA has been leading.

• Our recent "Brains on Broadway" Symposium and Reception in NYC exceeded our expectations.  As you know. we have built a broad coalition of people working together to change the treatment paradigm for people affected by psychosis brain syndromes.  Based upon the very strong feedback from attendees and our panelists, we are actively planning a follow-on event in March to continue this important dialogue with additional families and stakeholders. I will share additional details over the next few weeks. 

• SARDAA's Reclassification framework was referenced within the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee budgeting process.  Chairman Walden referenced my official statement within budget mark-up activities. He talked about the increasing need for better treatments for psychiatric conditions and the advances in better understanding in the underlying biology. He then went on to say that he agrees with SARDAA, and called us out by name, and included our talking points regarding serious concerns about future access to innovative therapies. 

• I was invited by the White House's Domestic Policy Council lead staff to meet discuss SARDAA's work and mental health policies. Our meeting was very encouraging and Steve Wagner, Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council at the White House and Leslie Ford, Special Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy Council shared that we provided them with new information.  Please read the talking points here.

On December 19, 2019 our CEO Linda Stalters and Board Member Dr. Tim Murphy will represent you at the White House Summit on Transforming Mental Health Treatment to Combat Homelessness, Violence & Substance Abuse.

Also:

SARDAA Leadership to Participate in White House Coalition Meeting

SARDAA Founder and CEO, Linda Stalters, along with SARDAA Board of Directors member, Dr. Tim Murphy, have been invited to participate in the upcoming White House Summit on Transforming Mental Health Treatment to Combat Homelessness, Violence & Substance Abuse. Meeting on Thursday, December 19, 2019.

HHS Secretary Alex Azar, HUD Sec. Ben Carson, White House Counselor to the President, Kellyanne Conway, advocates for people with serious neurological brain illness and local and state leaders are expected to address an audience of approximately 140 mental health leaders from around the country.

Submitted by David E. Geiger, MEE, PE

Hatred: Where Does it Come From?

(This is from a previously unpublished 2017 article.)

Checking Google for information leads predominantly to dictionary definitions. As such, the Urban Dictionary gives us this: “Haters gonna hate.” This is a colloquial expression meaning that “people who don’t like you will always find a reason to dislike you no matter how stupid that reason may be.” Also, hatred is often associated with feelings of anger, disgust, and a disposition toward hostility.

This is all well and good, but where does hatred come from? Well let’s look at this: Like love, hatred begins at home. They believe they are right. Why do they believe they are right? Because they belong to a larger group of people who think the same way and believe they are right as well. We must break this cycle. Do they feel threatened? Challenging them on the issues will only make them angrier. Angry, in their estimation, at always getting the short end of the stick? Executing one of them is not going to solve the problem. It threatens them and only makes them herd closer together.

The recent tragic terrorist attack in New York City (Nov. 2017) brings out these elements. From personal experience, I would say people like that belong in a psychiatric hospital, not to face execution.

Next Step Stories

May 1998 was the first time that I advocated education and mentoring for those in prison. And they work as research at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City shows. I tried to sell my ideas without success until in 2013 a friend recommended John Jay College. After several attempts, I sent them to Ann Jacobs who is now the Executive Director of the Prisoner Re-entry Institute (PRI) at the college. She responded with the comment that they were already working on some of those ideas, but there were others that seemed to have some merit. Symposiums at the school in the years following showed just that. In May 2013 I sent a CD copy of my book – In the Matter of Edwin Potter: Mental Illness and Criminal Justice Reform – to NJ Governor Chris Christie. I followed up with my article “Reducing Recidivism” in May 2014. In September 2014 Martin’s Place opened in Jersey City to much national fanfare. And this is where, in my estimation, criminal justice reform began its present-day approach of education and mentoring. Housing is also an issue.

Time passed, and I noticed from my experience of having mental illness and being involved with the courts that PRI was not addressing the aspect of brain illness that often goes along with criminal behavior although they are aware that many of those incarcerated suffer from this illness. In November 2016 my book was published, and I began to look for places to market it. I sent copies off to publishing houses, universities, media, and elected officials. In most cases I got no response, probably because of the stigma of having mental illness where we are still seen as criminals. I published articles which I still do today. I also did some searches online to find a relevant place to sell my book, and I found Schizophrenia and Related Disorders Alliance of America (SARDAA) whose CEO and founder, Linda Stalters, took an interest in my story. Their interest is in addressing brain illness, and where PRI was short on addressing that, SARDAA was short on addressing criminal justice reform. So, I sent both a copy of my book. PRI put it in their library, and SARDAA reviewed it and published that review in their newsletter. In early 2018 Linda asked me to write a blog for the SARDAA website, which I do today.

I keep both SARDAA and PRI informed of each other through their newsletters, and the world has not been the same since. I wrote to President Trump in March 2017, and in November 2018 I received his response regarding his interest in prison reform. A few months later, the First Step Act was passed with the help of Cory Booker (D-NJ) who I had also sent one of my articles as well as a copy of my book prior to that legislation. I thanked the President for his response but reminded him that he left out the need to address mental illness. Linda Stalters also wrote to him outlining the need to talk about mental health. SARDAA is presently working to reclassify schizophrenia as a brain illness rather than a behavioral problem and is working with major organizations such as CDC, NIMH, and SAMHSA. As a result, on December 19, 2019, there was a summit meeting at the White House “on transforming mental health treatment to combat homelessness, violence and substance abuse.” SARDAA was invited to attend that meeting. I watched online. By their own testimony, the panelists know what the problems are and how to fix them, but this is their first chance to do something about them.

Presently, Sandy Dimiterchik at SARDAA -who reviewed my book, by the way – asked me to consider becoming a group leader in NJ for those imprisoned with brain illness. I asked for more information, but part of what we need to do now as we have taken great steps already to reform criminal justice and the current healthcare system regarding brain illness is to begin to tell the stories – those underrepresented voices – of the lives of those who have suffered and survived these systems.