In a recent New York Times op-ed, University of Chicago law and crim­i­nol­o­gy pro­fes­sor Bernard Harcourt notes that a grow­ing num­ber of indi­vid­u­als ​“who used to be tracked for men­tal health treat­ment are now get­ting a one-way tick­et to jail.” Pointing to a Justice Department study released in September 2006, Harcourt notes that 56% of those jailed in state pris­ons and 64% of all inmates across the nation report­ed men­tal health prob­lems with­in the past year. He states that one rea­son for the increase in the num­ber of men­tal­ly ill inmates may be a trend away from insti­tu­tion­al­iz­ing these indi­vid­u­als in men­tal hos­pi­tals and asy­lums.

In the 1940s and 1950s, the United States insti­tu­tion­al­ized peo­ple at high­er rates than are report­ed today, but then the insti­tu­tion­al­iza­tion was most­ly attrib­ut­able to men­tal hos­pi­tals, while today it is pris­ons. He writes, ​“Though trou­bling, none of this should come as a sur­prise. Over the past 40 years, the United States dis­man­tled a colos­sal men­tal health com­plex and rebuilt — bed by bed — an enor­mous prison.”
(New York Times, January 15, 2007). See Mental Illness. The U.S. Supreme Court recent­ly agreed to hear the case of Panetti v. Quarterman involv­ing a dif­fer­ent, but relat­ed issue: the stan­dard for men­tal incom­pe­ten­cy that would bar an exe­cu­tion. See Supreme Court.

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