Kinja reply list

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stacyinbeanTaylor Berman
5/22/14 10:49am
Combination sink/toilet is not that odd, folks.

And this fine model only costs $4000. Meanwhile, Kohler's fancy ass home toilet with built in bidet that fans your ass, has built in speakers and has a heated seat is $4500.
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  aranxa1stacyinbean
  5/22/14 10:54am
  Are the speakers bluetooth?
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  phutnickstacyinbean
  5/22/14 10:57am
  Prison toilets have a design and use materials that make them unsuitable as weapons. You can easily kill someone with a household toilet.
  
  These are things one must consider when designing a prison. Solutions to these problems affect cost.
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reasonable-n-rationalTaylor Berman
5/22/14 10:54am
This makes me so angry and sick, I just cannot even.

On Sept. 10, video of an inmate delivering a tray of food to Ballard's cell showed the inmate covering his nose with his shirt and three officers backing away, "presumably because of the foul odor coming from the cell," Potler wrote.

So... they couldn't get anyone to clean his fuckin cell? And sink-toilet, what the actual fuck?!

Mentally ill persons and inmates are still human beings, regardless of their behavior. I cannot even imagine denying someone their medications and treating them worse than animals.

I worked in a locked psychiatric facility for years, so I know they can sometimes try your patience, but treating them any way less than human is inexcusable.
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ObliteratiTaylor Berman
5/22/14 10:58am
Yeah, we sure taught that guy a lesson, didn't we? Now he knows the meaning of justice, 'Murican style.

Well, he would know if he wasn't schizophrenic. And dead.
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  Elektra NatchiosObliterati
  5/22/14 12:25pm
  It's mind boggling to me- I misfile something at work and our whole office's infrastructure changes to make sure it never happens again. Someone mentally ill dies in police/prison/state custody? Fuck it.
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toothpetardTaylor Berman
5/22/14 10:47am
Ah, the merkun approach to mental illness.
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Stealth117Taylor Berman
5/22/14 11:52am
Taylor, as a schizophrenic man nearing his 29th birthday I have been afforded the opportunity to share my story through different endeavors. This past weekend I was at the SARDAA (Schizophrenia And Related Disorder Alliance of America) film festival to show a film about my life. It troubles me immensely that the stories we hear about schizophrenia are such as this. Never does the media show the stories that ring true to the propensity of individuals with this illness to go on and do great things, such as Frederick Frese (a PhD Psychologist). Myself, I am working on a Master's degree. It saddens me that society sees us as subhuman, and even worse against the statistics we're shown in media and entertainment to be hostile and violent when the opposite is true. Specifically, it has been shown that people with mental illness are more likely to be victims of violent crime than commit it. So, naturally, when I see a story like this I am upset in four ways: 1. How could these assholes do this to someone 2. Why must schizophrenics always be portrayed in a negative light? 3. The systemic neglect of our healthcare industry to create intensive teams like the VA to combat severe mental illness in communities needs to be addressed 4. How could these assholes do this to someone!?!??!?!?!?!?!?
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  usedtobehereStealth117
  5/22/14 12:01pm
  A member of my extended family has schizophrenia. She is a lovely, caring, gentle person. The only time she isn't those things is when she goes off her meds, and I can understand how that can happen. You take your meds, you feel better, you think maybe you don't need them anymore. It's hard to remember that when she's screaming horrible things at you in the driveway at 2am, but that's the bitch of the illness.
  
  Congrats on your MA, and props to you for speaking out :)
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  cowsharkyStealth117
  5/22/14 12:41pm
  " Specifically, it has been shown that people with mental illness are more likely to be victims of violent crime than commit it."
  
  This so much. The reason why it's so enraging whenever people automatically assume anyone who commits mass violence or other unthinkable crimes is mentally ill. People are particularly wont to demonize schizophrenics, who ironically are among the most vulnerable of mentally ill people when it comes to being a victim of a violent crime. What they did (or rather, neglected to do) to Mr. Ballard is a perfect example of how this demonizing leads to violence.
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carlaspadeaspadeTaylor Berman
5/22/14 10:44am
Maybe Lennie Briscoe was right. Rikers IS that bad.
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  dvdoffcarlaspadeaspade
  5/22/14 10:50am
  You suck. That was my exact first thought when I read this.
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EmotionalFriendTaylor Berman
5/22/14 11:03am
If he was mentally ill then why was he not placed in an institution equipped to handle people with mental disorders? Seriously, did they just dump in Rikers because there was nowhere else for him to go? This was an egregious institutional failure.
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  Marie_KEmotionalFriend
  5/22/14 4:57pm
  There was a change in approach some years back, to move from institutionalization to deinstitutionalization. The problem is that the government never set up the necessary community supports for these folks. They can sometimes be problematic and end up on the justice system radar. Another force has been the move away from forced medication. It can be very difficult to force people to take medication. All these things work together to result in people with serious mental health issues landing in jail for pretty minor things. The more important solution is good community supports. But as long as the police and the prisons keep killing people with mental health issues, they should be held to task and should be educated.
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Marie_KTaylor Berman
5/22/14 11:33am
So, he was in solitary confinement, and they turned off the water to his cell? So he couldn't drink water or flush his toilet? On September 6, I'm assuming. So, he was in his cell for 5 days with no running water, unable to flush his toilet or get a drink of water. I'm sure they were bringing glasses of water with meals, so there's that. But still. This is really disturbing. And I'm sorry to say that I'm not surprised by it. His family should bring a unlawful death lawsuit against the corrections department and the officials involved should be investigated by the police in relation to the death which was entirely preventable.
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Digg89Taylor Berman
5/22/14 10:42am

GIF

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pickwickianfireTaylor Berman
5/22/14 11:24am
This is not the job of prisons. It should be the job of mental health facilities. When they closed them all in the 1980's, they told the public how happier and healthier the mentally ill would be.
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  abidabi, THIEF OF JOYpickwickianfire
  5/22/14 11:46am
  To be fair, there were major issues with the old system of mental health institutions. A lot of patients were abused and neglected in those too. The problem is that they were closed without anything else to pick up the slack. Well, anything except prisons.
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