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| State must move now to make prisons safer for mentally ill inmates |
| By islandpacket.com |
| Published: 01/27/2014 |
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One would anticipate that a shocking 45-page order from a circuit court judge would light a fire under the Department of Corrections to make improvements and ensure the safety of its mentally ill inmates. But that does not appear to have happened -- at least not yet. "Evidence in this case has proved that inmates have died in the S.C. Department of Corrections for lack of basic mental health care," wrote Circuit Court Judge Michael Baxley. "Hundreds more remain substantially at risk for serious physical injury, mental decompensation, and profound, permanent mental illness." Baxley -- who called the case the most troubling of the 70,000 he has handled in his 14 years on the bench -- ordered the department to draw up a detailed plan within 180 days to improve the department's mental illness programs and procedures. Unfortunately for inmates, as well as taxpayers who pay for the state's prison system, there is no guarantee that this will happen. When questioned by the media, responses from the department lack any sense of urgency to do much more than appeal the case. "We will exercise the right to appeal this order; however we will continue to improve our efforts to improve the health care for mental health inmates," wrote a department spokesman in response to questions from The State newspaper in Columbia. That includes, according to the spokesman, having the S.C. Department of Mental Health evaluate Corrections' mental health procedures and working with the National Alliance on Mental Illness to improve officers' training and to expand a contract for additional psychiatrists. Read More. |
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