Court Finds Mentally Ill Prisoners Not Adequately Treated
By: Michael C. Fehn
Updated: January 3, 2013
A federal judge finds the Indiana Department of Corrections does not provide adequate treatment for mentally ill prisoners.
The court found the DOC was aware of concerns about its treatment of mentally ill prisoners, but that officials have been "deliberately indifferent" to the conditions, which include being confined to their cells for 23 hours a day in some cases.
The judge noted that nearly half of inmate suicides inside state prisons were committed by mentally ill offenders in a segregated setting.
Lawyers from both sides are supposed to meet within 45 days to discuss how to correct the problem.
The court found the DOC was aware of concerns about its treatment of mentally ill prisoners, but that officials have been "deliberately indifferent" to the conditions, which include being confined to their cells for 23 hours a day in some cases.
The judge noted that nearly half of inmate suicides inside state prisons were committed by mentally ill offenders in a segregated setting.
Lawyers from both sides are supposed to meet within 45 days to discuss how to correct the problem.
