Doing Time in “The Devil’s Chair:” Evaluating Nonjudicial Administrative Decisions to Isolate and Restrain Prisoners and Detainees With Mental Health Disabilities in Jails and Prisons

Abstract

I address the therapeutic jurisprudence implications of nonjudicial/administrative determinations to impose restrictive behavioral interventions on individuals with mental health disabilities in the jail and prison context. Such restrictive interventions include involuntarily medications, segregation, seclusion and restraints, and other related restrictive measures. I explain why our current policies violate the basic precepts of therapeutic jurisprudence and discuss the value of introducing therapeutic jurisprudence into this process.

Keywords

restrictive behavioral interventions therapeutic jurisprudence mental health disabilities

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

American Bar Association. (n.d.). Standards on treatments of prisoners: Standard 23-4.3 Disciplinary sanctions. www.americanbar.org/groups/criminal_justice/publications/criminal_justice_section_archive/crimjust_standards_treatmentprisoners/#23-4.3

Angrick

(2009). Investigation of restraint device use in Iowa’s county jails. www.legis.iowa.gov/DOCS/CAO/Invstgtv_Reports/2009/CIWPA001.PDF

Annas

(2009). The legacy of the Nuremburg doctors’ trial to American bioethics and human rights. Minnesota Journal of Law, Science, & Technology, 10(1), 19-40.

Applebaum

(2007). Commentary: The use of restraint and seclusion in correctional mental health. American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 35(4), 431-435.

Balko

(2012, December 1). Death in the devil’s chair: Florida man’s pepper spray death raises questions about jail abuse. Huffington Post. www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/jail-abuse-nick-christie-pepper-spray-florida_n_1192412?ri18n=true

Beatty v. Goord, 210 F. Supp. 250, 255-56 (S.D.N.Y. 2000).

Birgden

Perlin

M. L.

(2009). “Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison:” A human rights perspective on therapeutic jurisprudence and the role of forensic psychologists in correctional settings. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 14, 256-263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2009.04.002

Bonfine

Wilson

A. B.

Munetz

(2020). Meeting the needs of justice-involved people with serious mental illness within community behavioral health systems. Psychiatric Services, 71(4), 355-363. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201900453

Booth v. Churner, 532 U.S. 731, 740 (2001).

10.

Bronson

Berezofsky

(2017). Indicators of mental health problems reported by prisoners and jail inmates, 2011-12. www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/imhprpji1112.pdf

11.

Chammah

(2020). They went to jail. Then they say they were strapped to a chair for days. The Marshall Project. www.themarshallproject.org/2020/02/07/they-went-to-jail-then-they-say-they-were-strapped-to-a-chair-for-days

12.

Champion

M. K.

(2007). Commentary: Seclusion and restraint in corrections—A time for change. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 35(4), 426-430.

13.

Cohen

Dvoskin

J. A.

(1993). Therapeutic jurisprudence and corrections: A glimpse. New York Law School Journal of Human Rights, 10, 777-804.

14.

Dehart

Iachini

(2019). Mental health and trauma among incarcerated persons: Development of training curriculum for correctional officers. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 44, 457-473. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-019-9473-y

15.

Department of Justice. (2018). Investigation of the Hampton Roads Regional Jail (Portsmouth, Virginia). www.justice.gov/crt/case-document/file/1121176/download

16.

Dorfman

(1993). Through a therapeutic jurisprudence filter: Fear and pretextuality in mental disability law. New York Law School Journal of Human Rights, 10(Part 3), 805-824.

17.

Faiver

(2019). Correctional health care services: Mental health, infectious disease, dental care addiction treatment. Charles C. Thomas.

18.

Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of County of Burlington, 566 U.S. 318 (2012).

19.

Ford

Silverman

Solimo

Leung

Smith

Bell

Katyal

(2020). Clinical outcomes for specialized treatment units for patients with serious mental illness in the New York City jail system. Psychiatric Services, 71(6), 547-554. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201900405

20.

Freudenberg

(2001). Jails, prisons, and the health of urban Populations: a review of the impact of the correctional system on community health. Journal of Urban Health, 78(2), 214-235. https://doi.org/10.1093/jurban/78.2.214

21.

Houser

Vilcica

E. R.

Saum

C. A.

Hiller

(2019). Mental health risk factors and parole decisions: Does inmate mental health status affect who gets released? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 6(16), 2950. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16162950

22.

Human Rights Watch. (n.d.). Callous and cruel: Use of force against inmates with mental disabilities in US jails and prisons. www.hrw.org/report/2015/05/12/callous-and-cruel/use-force-against-inmates-mental-disabilities-us-jails-and

23.

Lowen

Vanko

Roberts

Chaitoo

(2019). The safe alternatives to segregation initiative: Findings, recommendations, and reforms for the Nevada Department of Corrections. Vera Institute of Justice. www.vera.org/publications/safe-alternatives-segregation-initiative-findings-recommendations

24.

Metzner

(2007). Resource document on the use of restraint and seclusion in correctional mental health care. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law, 35(4), 417-425.

25.

Metzner

Fellner

(2010). Solitary confinement and mental illness in U.S. prisons: A challenge for medical ethics. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 38(1), 104-108.

26.

Office of the Inspector General. (2017). Review of the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ use of restrictive housing for inmates with mental illness. https://oig.justice.gov/reports/2017/e1705.pdf#page=1.

27.

O’Guinn v. Lovelock Correctional Center, 502 F.3d 1056, 1061-62 (9th Cir. 2007).

28.

Parcesepe

A. M.

Cabassa

(2013). Public stigma of mental illness in the United States: A systematic literature review. Administration Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services, 40(5), 384-399. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-012-0430-z

29.

Perlin

M. L.

(1989). Unpacking the myths: The symbolism mythology of insanity defense jurisprudence. Case Western Reserve Law Review, 40(3), 599-731.

30.

Perlin

M. L.

(1992a). Fatal assumption: The critical evaluation of the role of counsel in disability law cases. Law and Human Behavior, 16(1), 39-59. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02351048

31.

Perlin

M. L.

(1992b). On sanism. Southern Methodist University Law Review, 46, 394-407.

32.

Perlin

M. L.

(2000). The hidden prejudice: Mental disability on trial. American Psychological Association Press.

33.

Perlin

M. L.

(2012). “Wisdom is thrown into jail:” Using therapeutic jurisprudence to remediate the criminalization of persons with mental illness. Michigan State University Journal of Medicine and Law, 17, 343-371. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2220403

34.

Perlin

M. L.

(2013). A prescription for dignity: Rethinking criminal justice and mental disability law. Ashgate.

35.

Perlin

M. L.

Weinstein

(2018). “Who’s pretending to care for him?” How the endless jail-to-hospital-to-street-repeat cycle deprives persons with mental disabilities the right to continuity of care. Wake Forest Journal of Law & Policy, 8, 455-501.

36.

Porter v. Nussle, 534 U.S. 516, 524 (2002).

37.

Ross v. Blake, 136 S.Ct. 1850 (2016).

38.

Rossler

(2016). The stigma of mental disorders: A millennia-long history of social exclusion and prejudice. Science & Society, 17(9), 1250-1253. https://doi.org/10.15252/embr.201643041

39.

Sakoda

R. T.

Simes

J. T.

(2019). Solitary confinement and the prison boon. Criminal Justice Policy Review. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0887403419895315

40.

Shapiro

Hogle

(2018). The horror chamber: Unqualified impunity in prison. Notre Dame Law Review, 93(5), 2036-2063.

41.

Slutsky

(2005). Totally exhausted: Why a strict interpretation of 42 U.S.C. § 1977E(A) unduly burdens courts and prisoners. Fordham Law Review, 73(5), 2289-2320.

42.

Smith

H. P.

Kaminski

R. J.

Power

Slade

(2019). Self-harming behaviors in prison: A comparison of suicidal processes, self-injurious behaviors, and mixed events. Criminal Justice Studies, 32(3), 264-286. https://doi.org/10.1080/1478601X.2019.1602044

43.

SoftGuard. (n.d.). SoftGuard safety restraint chair. https://restraintchair.com/pdfs/2020/SoftGuard-Instructions_REVISED.pdf

44.

Sureguard. (n.d.). Sureguard safety restraint chair. https://restraintchair.com/sureguard-restraint-chair.php

45.

Turner v. Safely, 482 U.S. 78, 89 (1987).

46.

Washington State Department of Corrections. (2017). Washington State DOC Office of the Ombuds 2017 annual report. https://doc.wa.gov/docs/publications/reports/100-RE001.pdf

47.

Wexler

(Ed.). (1990). Therapeutic jurisprudence: The law as a therapeutic agent. Carolina Academic Press.

48.

Wexler

(1992). Therapeutic jurisprudence and changing conceptions of legal scholarship. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 11(1), 17-29. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2370110103

49.

Wexler

(1993). Putting mental health into mental health law: Therapeutic jurisprudence. Law and Human Behavior, 16(1), 27-38. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02351047

50.

Wexler

Winick

(Eds.). (1991). Essays in therapeutic jurisprudence. Carolina Academic Press.

51.

Wood v. Ngo, 548 U.S. 81 (2006).