Post by SoulTrainOz on Jul 6, 2006 21:33:29 GMT -5
Everyone could use someone to watch over them. But no one needs that someone as much as the mentally ill. The following episode demonstrates that point, and shows how the mentally ill can end up being victimized by the criminal justice system. On June 12, police picked up Michael Shelton, a 40-year-old mentally ill man, for drinking a beer in public. When they ran Shelton's name through their system, a 1987 warrant popped up.
Needless to say, Shelton was hauled off to Cook County Jail. That turned out to be a big mistake. Shelton had already paid for the crime related to the warrant. In fact, Shelton had been locked up in the Elgin Forensic Division Mental Health facility for 15 years after he was found not guilty by reason of insanity for a case in which a man was beaten during an argument. Since his release, Shelton has lived at the Columbus Manor Rehabilitation Facility.
No one knows why the 19-year-old warrant had never been cleared. But it doesn't take much imagination to understand how this could have happened.
Maybe an inept clerk failed to send the old warrant to wherever old warrants go. Then another clerk could have put Shelton's papers in the wrong pile. Even a hardworking, ethical employee could have made this kind of a mistake.
But once the mistake was discovered, it would have been nice if someone involved in the administrative process would have worked to get Shelton out of jail.
As it was, Michael Shelton stayed in jail 17 days longer than he should have.
A simple mistake?
"There's no telling how many people are locked up who shouldn't be," said his sister, Detrice Shelton. "I'm concerned about my brother, but I'm also concerned about other people who may not have someone to speak for them."
Detrice is the person in her family responsible for looking out for her mentally ill brother. She was out of town having a short vacation when her brother was arrested.
Because she has a block on collect calls, her brother was unable to leave a voice mail explaining his situation. By the time Detrice figured out her brother's whereabouts, he had already been in jail for nearly 2 weeks.
"My little boy looked on the Caller ID and told me we got a call from the prison. I got on the phone and called Columbus Manor. I was terribly upset that they didn't notify me that my brother was in jail," she said.
And, again, maybe this was also just a simple mistake.
Maybe some harried head nurse at Columbus Manor didn't think to look up the next-of-kin when police hauled the mentally ill resident off to jail. Still, it should have been a matter of straightening out the paperwork.
Deborah White, a chief of the felony trial division at the Cook County public defender's office, told me that there were actually TWO open warrants on Shelton dating to 1987.
"We are very sorry these 2 warrants were still attached to Shelton, but none of us was here in 1988," she said.
But Detrice Shelton complained that the lawyer from the public defender's office who represented her brother didn't return her phone calls, didn't know her brother was still in jail and was abrupt in the courtroom when she tried to explain the situation.
Cook County Public Defender Edwin Burnette said the real shame is that Shelton spent 12 days in jail when he didn't have to.
"It's not about a number or that someone just came out of the
penitentiary," Burnette said. "This is about a person -- regardless of that person's situation -- being in jail when he wasn't supposed to be. That is something we have to be able to feel."
Triggering disaster
Sometimes these errors can be fixed without any lasting harm. But other times, an administrative oversight can trigger a disaster.
For instance, in May, Wentworth District police released a 21-year-old California woman from lockup despite being told by her parents that the woman was mentally ill. After spending a night in jail, the woman ended up in the company of young males. They took her to a vacant apartment in a CHA high-rise, and she was later found laying outside on the ground.
Police have charged a 23-year-old alleged gang member with attempted rape and unlawful restraint in that case. The suspect, identified as Marvin Powell, told police that he and the woman had consensual sex and that she later jumped from the 7th floor of the building.
While it's impossible to say whether the mentally ill woman could have been saved from such a terrible fate, it is obvious that had someone been able to feel her parents' pain, they would have found a way to keep the girl in custody until her mental state was evaluated.
It is the lack of concern for the mentally ill on the part of people
connected to the criminal justice system that most worries Detrice
Shelton. It should worry us, as well, because mental illness can strike anyone.
"If I wasn't trying to keep up with my brother, he could still be sitting in jail," she said.
(source: Chicago Sun-Times)
Needless to say, Shelton was hauled off to Cook County Jail. That turned out to be a big mistake. Shelton had already paid for the crime related to the warrant. In fact, Shelton had been locked up in the Elgin Forensic Division Mental Health facility for 15 years after he was found not guilty by reason of insanity for a case in which a man was beaten during an argument. Since his release, Shelton has lived at the Columbus Manor Rehabilitation Facility.
No one knows why the 19-year-old warrant had never been cleared. But it doesn't take much imagination to understand how this could have happened.
Maybe an inept clerk failed to send the old warrant to wherever old warrants go. Then another clerk could have put Shelton's papers in the wrong pile. Even a hardworking, ethical employee could have made this kind of a mistake.
But once the mistake was discovered, it would have been nice if someone involved in the administrative process would have worked to get Shelton out of jail.
As it was, Michael Shelton stayed in jail 17 days longer than he should have.
A simple mistake?
"There's no telling how many people are locked up who shouldn't be," said his sister, Detrice Shelton. "I'm concerned about my brother, but I'm also concerned about other people who may not have someone to speak for them."
Detrice is the person in her family responsible for looking out for her mentally ill brother. She was out of town having a short vacation when her brother was arrested.
Because she has a block on collect calls, her brother was unable to leave a voice mail explaining his situation. By the time Detrice figured out her brother's whereabouts, he had already been in jail for nearly 2 weeks.
"My little boy looked on the Caller ID and told me we got a call from the prison. I got on the phone and called Columbus Manor. I was terribly upset that they didn't notify me that my brother was in jail," she said.
And, again, maybe this was also just a simple mistake.
Maybe some harried head nurse at Columbus Manor didn't think to look up the next-of-kin when police hauled the mentally ill resident off to jail. Still, it should have been a matter of straightening out the paperwork.
Deborah White, a chief of the felony trial division at the Cook County public defender's office, told me that there were actually TWO open warrants on Shelton dating to 1987.
"We are very sorry these 2 warrants were still attached to Shelton, but none of us was here in 1988," she said.
But Detrice Shelton complained that the lawyer from the public defender's office who represented her brother didn't return her phone calls, didn't know her brother was still in jail and was abrupt in the courtroom when she tried to explain the situation.
Cook County Public Defender Edwin Burnette said the real shame is that Shelton spent 12 days in jail when he didn't have to.
"It's not about a number or that someone just came out of the
penitentiary," Burnette said. "This is about a person -- regardless of that person's situation -- being in jail when he wasn't supposed to be. That is something we have to be able to feel."
Triggering disaster
Sometimes these errors can be fixed without any lasting harm. But other times, an administrative oversight can trigger a disaster.
For instance, in May, Wentworth District police released a 21-year-old California woman from lockup despite being told by her parents that the woman was mentally ill. After spending a night in jail, the woman ended up in the company of young males. They took her to a vacant apartment in a CHA high-rise, and she was later found laying outside on the ground.
Police have charged a 23-year-old alleged gang member with attempted rape and unlawful restraint in that case. The suspect, identified as Marvin Powell, told police that he and the woman had consensual sex and that she later jumped from the 7th floor of the building.
While it's impossible to say whether the mentally ill woman could have been saved from such a terrible fate, it is obvious that had someone been able to feel her parents' pain, they would have found a way to keep the girl in custody until her mental state was evaluated.
It is the lack of concern for the mentally ill on the part of people
connected to the criminal justice system that most worries Detrice
Shelton. It should worry us, as well, because mental illness can strike anyone.
"If I wasn't trying to keep up with my brother, he could still be sitting in jail," she said.
(source: Chicago Sun-Times)