And there was at least one other major factor at play. A blockbuster factor. It is that our prison population was growing exponentially, largely due to the so-called "war on drugs." Law enforcement went on a drug-bust binge, arresting and
incarcerating citizens who had a single marijuana joint in a pocket. Along with that Draconian regimen came Mandatory Minimum Sentences, which virtually removed from judges the discretion to decide each case on its merits (many of the mandatory minimums were later changed to non-mandatory guidelines).
Scholars seem never to tire of arguing about whether Americans simply love to lock people up or not. But follow the feet during this period.
Federal statistics from 2006 reveal that the number of mentally ill inmates in U.S. prisons and jails quadrupled since 2000, according to Human Rights Watch. More than half of all prison and state inmates reported mental health problems, including symptoms of major depression, mania and psychotic disorders, according to a federal Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) report, "Mental Health Problems of Prison and Jail Inmates."
In 1998, the BJS reported there were an estimated 283,000 prison and jail inmates who suffered from mental health problems. That number is now estimated to be 1.25 million. HRW reports that the rate of reported mental health disorders in the state prison population is five times greater (56.2 percent) than in the general adult population (11 percent).
Women prisoners have an even higher rate of mental health problems than men: almost three quarters (73 percent) of all women in state prison have mental health problems, compared to 55 percent of men, according to the BJS.
"While the number of mentally ill inmates surges, prisons remain dangerous and damaging places for them," said Jamie Fellner, director of Human Rights Watch's U.S. Program and co-author of the 2003 report, "Ill-Equipped: U.S. Prisons and Offenders with Mental Illness." "Prisons are woefully ill-equipped for their current role as the nation's primary mental health facilities," she said.
According to HRW, deficient mental health services in prisons and jails leave prisoners under-treated or not treated at all. Across the country, prisoners with mental health problems face a shortage of qualified staff, lack of facilities and prison rules that interfere with treatment.
When Charles E, Samuels Jr., the Director of the Bureau of Prisons -- part of the Department of Justice -- testified to a Senate Committee earlier this month, he could not tell lawmakers how many mentally ill patients were locked up in Federal prisons.
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