Isabelle Taft
@IsabelleTaft
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reporting fellow @NYTNational | before: @MSTODAYnews , @dstodayunion , @ProPublica Local Reporting Network, @sunherald | email: isabelle.taft @nytimes .com
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Pinned Tweet
In Mississippi, if you believe a loved one could pose a threat to themselves or others because of a mental health issue, you can file paperwork to have them evaluated.
But first, they might have to go to jail – without being charged with a crime. (THREAD)
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On the last day of legal abortion in Mississippi, the clinic escorts at the Pink House put these signs on the privacy fence before they leave for the afternoon.
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When Sydney Jones arrived at Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto during a mental health crisis, her family assumed she would soon receive treatment.
Instead, the hospital sent her to jail, though she was charged with no crime.
Why did this happen? (THREAD)
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After four wonderful years in Mississippi, I have a new job. Starting Monday I'll cover national news as a fellow at the New York Times.
I'm grateful to everyone who shared their stories with me and to all my colleagues at
@MSTODAYnews
and
@sunherald
.
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During the pandemic, the state Division of Medicaid sent women letters telling them they were losing coverage 60 days postpartum-- even though they were still covered and the state was drawing federal $$ to pay for their care.
My story for
@MSTODAYnews
:
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In Mississippi, people who may be a danger to themselves or others because of a mental illness are frequently jailed, often with no criminal charges.
Some local officials say jail is the only place they have to keep people safe.
But since 2006, 14 of those people have died.🧵:
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This is one of two padded cells in the Adams County jail where people await psychiatric treatment through the civil commitment process.
Conditions are so bad that most people charged with crimes–but not people awaiting treatment–are sent to a different jail. (THREAD)
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People were jailed without charges at least 2,000 times from 2019 to 2022 as they waited for evaluations and treatment for mental illness or substance abuse, in just 19 counties. About 130 stays were longer than 30 days.
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I'm still reporting on Mississippi's practice of jailing hundreds of people without criminal charges every year, just because they may have a mental illness.
5 things we've learned so far, based on prior reporting for
@MSTODAYnews
&
@propublica
:
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Since 2006, at least 13 people have died in Mississippi county jails while detained during the civil commitment process for mental illness or drug or alcohol addiction.
9 of them died by suicide.
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“We’re not a mental health hospital,” said Greg Pollan, president of the Mississippi Sheriffs’ Association and the sheriff of a rural county. “We’re not even a mental health Band-Aid station. That’s not what we do. So they should never, ever see the inside of my jail.”
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Sometimes their charge was recorded on the jail docket as “lunacy” (even though that’s not a crime).
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It was not an accident or a mistake: At the biggest hospital in Mississippi’s DeSoto County, south of Memphis, patients are sometimes jailed to await mental health treatment, according to sheriff’s department call logs, incident reports and jail dockets.
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I'm thrilled that
@mrsimon22
,
@agnel88_philip
and I are Livingston Award finalists for our reporting on how Mississippi routinely jails people who are not accused of any crime, solely because they may be mentally ill.
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Some people described being unable to access prescribed psychiatric medications or withdrawing from illegal drugs without medical attention.
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I'm so proud to be part of the first Mississippi-based news organization to unionize.
Hey y'all. We are the editorial workers
@MSTodayNews
@VeriteNewsNOLA
. We’ve unionized for a stronger, better Deep South Today. Here's why:
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Read the full story of what happened to Sydney – and dozens of other people in Desoto County in recent years – here, for
@MSTODAYnews
and
@propublica
, with reporting by
@agnel88_philip
and
@mrsimon22
and photos by
@EricJShelton
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We talked to 10 people about their experiences in jail. They had no idea how long they would be detained – the only way out was when a treatment bed opened up.
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One man was locked in what jail officials call the “Lunacy Zone.” He said his mattress was taken and he was not allowed to bathe regularly.
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Even in Mississippi, where people are commonly jailed without charges during the commitment process, it appears to be unusual for deputies to pick up so many patients at a hospital.
Elsewhere in the country, the practice is “unthinkable,” said a psychiatrist in Atlanta.
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How did this happen? Why are the hundreds of Mississippians jailed every year just because they need mental health treatment subject to the same conditions as people facing criminal charges – when the law says they shouldn’t be?
Here’s what I found out:
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Jones and other patients held in jail were going through the involuntary commitment process to receive court-ordered behavioral health treatment.
Officials at Baptist-DeSoto, which has no psychiatric unit, said that these patients need treatment the hospital can’t provide.
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But the practice has continued for decades.
What one advocate told a Mississippi newspaper in 1984: “And then there’s the practice of detaining an individual in jail awaiting transportation” to a state hospital. “These people are not criminals, they’re by definition ‘ill.’”
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During Sydney’s first psychotic episode in 2021, her mother pursued commitment. Sydney was jailed for nine days.
The experience was so traumatic Sydney’s family didn't want her to go through it again.
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Everyone agrees jail is the wrong place for people in crisis.
“People tend to associate jail with punishment, which is exactly the opposite of what a person needs when they’re in a mental health crisis,” said the program director at a state hospital.
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If a patient is deemed dangerous and refuses treatment, commitment is sometimes the only option. It’s up to the county to house patients during the process.
Jailing patients is not "ideal," a hospital spokesperson said, “but, sadly, it is often the only option in our state.”
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I’m really thrilled to be part of ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network next year. And glad to be working alongside fellow Mississippi reporters
@nickjudin
and
@CalebBedillion
!
SO EXCITED!! Welcome to the LRN
@nickjudin
@MSFreePress
@IsabelleTaft
@MSTODAYnews
@PatLohmann
@source_nm
@SamanthaSunne
@FOX8NOLA
and welcome back
@CalebBedillion
@DJournalnow
🎉🎉🎉
Five Newsroom Partners Join ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network
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Under state law “any county facility” that holds people awaiting court-ordered mental health treatment must be certified by the state.
Today, only 1 jail is certified.
Yet the law requiring certification took effect in 2009.
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Most patients who arrive at Baptist-DeSoto in need of mental health treatment are not jailed. Instead, they are transferred directly to another facility or connected with outpatient services.
But dozens of times a year, patients are sent to jail.
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Like every state, Mississippi has an involuntary commitment process to send people to psychiatric treatment against their will if a court determines they are dangerous.
Unlike other states, Mississippi routinely jails those people with no criminal charges
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Terry Fox, pictured here with two of the couple’s four children, feels his wife was thrown away.
“When you see somebody that ain’t eating, you can’t just let them sit there and do that,” he said. “They’re still somebody. They’re still a human being.”
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“It felt more criminal than, like, they were trying to help me. I got the exact same treatment in there as I did when I was in jail facing charges. In fact worse, in my opinion, because at least when I was facing charges I could bond out,” one said.
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“Putting a sick person in a jail is a sin,” said an attorney who adjudicated civil commitment cases in small, rural Noxubee County for 20 years. “But it’s the lesser of somebody getting killed.”
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Woooooooooooo!!!!
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State law makes counties responsible for people going through the commitment process until they are admitted to a treatment facility.
When a publicly funded crisis bed is unavailable, counties often balk at paying for people to wait in a hospital.
So they send them to jail.
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Sandy Jones said if her daughter has another mental health crisis, she won’t try to get help in DeSoto County.
“I will tie her up until it’s over,” Sandy Jones said.
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Correctional health experts who discussed Nakema's case told us that was wrong.
Not eating is “an acute medical need,” said a former chief medical officer for New York state prisons. “They’re still denying access to care if they’re letting the person starve.”
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I have some information about my job! 🦐🛤️🏢
Today is my last day at the
@sunherald
. I feel lucky that
@Report4America
sent me to such a great newsroom full of incredible journalists, and I'm grateful to everyone from Picayune to Pascagoula who talked with me for stories.
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When she arrived at Baptist-DeSoto in April 2023, her family figured she would avoid jail.
But a staffer at the local community mental health center, contracted by the hospital to find treatment for patients with mental health concerns, concluded Sydney had to be committed.
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A year later, Sydney is doing better. But she wants to remember what happened, so she keeps mementos: The Bible she read in jail, the notebook where she took notes during group therapy, and wristbands. The white one identified her as a patient; the yellow, as a prisoner.
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After evaluations and a hearing, Sydney was transported to a crisis center in Corinth, Mississippi. She spent about two weeks there receiving medication and participating in therapy sessions, where she took notes in a composition book.
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Of the 14 people who died after being jailed, 9 died by suicide. 3 died following what correctional health care experts told us was substandard medical care.
(The circumstances around 2 others, including the most recent in August, are unclear, though they were not by suicide.)
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Fox was detained in a jail holding cell because the medical room was full, according to an investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.
During her time in jail, some of the jail staff noticed she was not eating, and a booking officer brought her an apple.
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At the time, Sydney was experiencing delusions “like if Satan made goggles and put them on you.”
She said she was terrified that deputies would drive her to a field, rape and kill her.
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Relatively wealthy DeSoto County, near Memphis, jailed about 500 people solely because they may have been suffering from mental illness or addiction from 2019-2022.
The median jail stay was 9 days. The longest was 106.
(short thread)
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Mississippi jails are not subject to mandatory state standards or regulation. They may have no on-site medical staff; one said it has no suicide prevention policy– something an expert called “shocking."
(We found no deaths of people awaiting commitment proceedings in that jail.)
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The staffer, Catherine Davis, wrote that Sydney should be held in jail while she waited for treatment.
“We’ve got to make sure these people are safe so they’re not going to harm themselves or somebody else," Davis said in an interview about the commitment process generally.
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I’m still reporting on civil commitment in Mississippi.
I’d love to hear from you: itaft
@mississippitoday
.org and 601-691-4756
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They booked her into the county jail, where she spent nine days in a general population cell.
Davis said jail is a last resort. She and other officials involved in commitment believe it is sometimes the only option they have.
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But in the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation’s report on her death, there’s no indication that she got any medical care until right before her death.
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On May 18, 2007, Fox was booked into the DeSoto County jail, but not charged with any crime.
She had missed two therapy appointments and hadn’t taken medications, violating a court-ordered treatment plan.
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On Sydney’s fourth day in the hospital, two deputies arrived to take her into custody. Her nurse handed them her discharge papers and the deputies wheeled her out of the hospital.
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Sheriff Travis Patten has long said people being committed shouldn’t be held in his jail at all.
But Adams County is far from unique: In the year ending in June, 812 Mississippians were held in 71 county jails before hospital admission.
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Thousands of women may have avoided going to the doctor because they thought they were uninsured. This almost certainly saved Medicaid a lot of money.
“I fear this is an intentional strategy to cut costs on the backs of these postpartum women,”
@JoanAlker1
said.
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Doctors who've worked in jails said it isn’t surprising that people jailed due to mental illness have died.
“It’s taking people with a suspected health problem and putting them in a place that is likely going to increase their risk of dying from that health problem,” said one.
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But experts said Mississippi doesn’t have to do this.
“It’s just about money,” said Dr. Marvin Swartz, a psychiatrist at Duke University. “It’s not that there’s no beds, there’s no bed that they wish to have.”
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County officials want the state to step up.
“You can’t just throw it on the counties. It’s a state prerogative. And them being held in the jail, I think, is a result of the state kicking the can down the road to the counties.”
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On Fox’s 11th day in jail, a jailer noticed her coughing and called the nurse.
A few minutes later, the nurse found Nakema was not breathing and had no pulse. An autopsy later concluded she had died due to a pulmonary embolism.
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The director of the state Department of Mental Health said it is “unacceptable” to hold people in jail without charges. The Department has expanded crisis beds and funding for local services in recent years, aiming to reduce commitments and keep people out of jail.
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We looked into all 14 deaths. Read the full story by me and
@mrsimon22
for Mississippi Today and ProPublica, with photos by
@EricJShelton
:
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Starting next week, I'll be covering health for
@MSTODAYnews
with
@KRRoyals
,
@WillStribling
and
@EricJShelton
. I'm so excited to start a new beat and spend a lot more time north of I-10. Story tips, reading suggestions and stray thoughts are always welcome!
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Debbie Russell is running for sheriff in Travis county to end jail time for nonviolent offenders
#GNCinHOU
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With little oversight of jails that hold people during the commitment process, no one in the state knows exactly how often these deaths occurred. The state mental health agency does not track them.
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Meanwhile, Mississippi families find the path to help runs through the local jail.
County officials told Cassandra McNeese jail was the only place they had for her brother to wait. “This is who you trust to take care of things. That’s all you have to rely on.”
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Previously unpublicized documents show Mississippi kids in CPS custody are suffering horrific abuse and neglect. But Gov. Reeves believes the department is "meeting and exceeding constitutional standards."
My story for
@MSTODAYnews
:
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Read our story on the 2009 law, a failed implementation effort, and what’s happening now– and why Mississippians are still subjected to detentions that violate state law.
With photos by
@EricJShelton
and research by
@mrsimon22
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Nakema Fox was one of them, in 2007.
Nakema and her high school sweetheart, Terry, were raising their four children in DeSoto County, just south of Memphis, when she was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
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I'm really excited to be moving to Mississippi in June to join the team at the
@sunherald
through
@report4america
!
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The Department of Mental Health says it has no authority to force counties to change course, nor legal responsibility for people going through the process until they’re ordered into treatment at a hearing.
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The problem isn't new.
After a man awaiting treatment in a jail died by suicide in 1999, the sheriff said: “There should be some means besides a county jail to house mental patients. A jail is not equipped for this.”
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No context Mississippi State Senate Floor Live: "When I shoot a hog, I pick him up and I take him home."
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Under the order, noncompliance was grounds for her to be hospitalized again. And in DeSoto County, that meant she would wait in jail for a bed to become available.
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One finding: Some smaller, rural counties don’t jail people during the process or do so very rarely.
Neshoba schedules all evaluations for the same day. Then if no publicly funded bed is available, it pays for people to receive treatment at a private psychiatric hospital.
NEW: 5 Takeaways From Our Investigation Into How Mississippi Counties Jail People for Mental Illness by
@IsabelleTaft
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I'm continuing to report on civil commitment in Mississippi. Please contact me at itaft
@mississippitoday
.org or (601) 691-4756 if you'd like to share an experience or perspective.
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His advice to other county officials involved in the civil commitment process?
“Do not put them in your jail. Jails are not safe places. We think they are, but they’re definitely not” for people who are mentally ill.
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Come for Lynn Fitch saying she can't talk about extending postpartum Medicaid because of nonexistent "pending litigation," stay for the claim that vaccines for babies are why Mississippi has the country's highest infant mortality rate. By
@BobbyHarrison9
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When someone dies in jail, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation gets involved only if the sheriff or DA requests it, and only to see if a crime was committed.
Litigation is typically the only way for a family to seek accountability.
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Back in 2009, state Sen. Joey Fillingane aimed to address that longstanding problem in Mississippi by introducing a bill requiring any county facility where people are detained before psychiatric hospitalization to meet health and safety standards.
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But the law contained no funding to help counties comply and no penalty if they didn’t.
Following pushback from county officials, the certification effort seemed to peter out, according to a review of state documents. Over the last 10 years the requirement was largely forgotten.
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I still find it basically incomprehensible that many Mississippi counties hold sick people in jail -- never charging them with a crime -- as a matter of course.
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Wait what
"The Ethics Commission added that legislators working in health care could vote no on Medicaid expansion. But members who would vote yes should not vote because that would be a conflict of interest."
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DeSoto County officials declined to comment on Fox’s death, which took place under a prior sheriff.
A sheriff’s department official said jail staff keep track of when inmates refuse meals and have medical staff evaluate them.
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Of nine lawsuits filed over the deaths, one is ongoing and four were settled. Four were dismissed or lost at trial.
Almost all of the counties where people died – including DeSoto – still jail people without criminal charges during the commitment process.
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I wrote about how abortion rights advocates are determined to ensure abortion pills remain accessible in MS.
“We are going to do it right under their noses, and they won’t know, or they will know it, but they’re not going to be able to prove it.”
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In the 1930s 3.4% of all medical spending in Mississippi went to “cultists”
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Quitman County in the Delta, however, has stopped.
In Quitman, three men died by suicide in the jail – two using the same method in the same cell, just seven months apart.
Chancery clerk Butch Scipper said jailing those men “was not the right thing to do.”
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Grateful to
@news_fuentes
for taking the time to talk with me about reporting in 2 languages while he was in the middle of covering Hurricane Ida. Very few in South MS, from local gov'ts to media, are doing the work he does to share critical information in Spanish.
I got referred to “that guy on the front page of the Sun Herald,” while on a story today.
So I had to pick up some copies.
Special thanks to
@IsabelleTaft
for writing this piece and bringing more awareness toward Mississippi’s need for more bilingual reporting.
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When Dr. Cheryl Hamlin signed up to provide abortions in Mississippi, she knew there would be protesters. What she didn't expect was how many patients would wind up at the clinic in part because of lack of health insurance.
My story for
@MSTODAYnews
:
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Hey, y'all! My colleagues and I have been covering the ongoing BCBS/UMMC dispute, and I'm excited to answer your questions about what's going on this Wednesday at noon on Reddit in my first
#AMA
!
I'll be over at as u/MSTODAYnews!
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We found deaths by reviewing news clips and lawsuits and poring over a trove of MBI reports. Most of the deaths received little to no media coverage at the time.
Here’s how Nakema Fox’s death was reported in May 2007:
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I’ve been reporting on civil commitment in Mississippi since 2021, but I had never heard of this certification requirement until I read through the state’s commitment code earlier this year.
It turned out plenty of county officials hadn’t either.
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Terry Fox, focused on caring for their four kids, didn’t consider suing when his wife died.
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But we soon learned that wasn’t true: At the time, two jails were certified as holding facilities.
And more than a decade ago, DMH toured jails to try to help them meet the standards to get certified.
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What questions do you have about the future of abortion + reproductive health and justice in Mississippi? AMA on Friday at noon!
I'll be over at as u/MSTODAYnews
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Working in Jackson last week, Dr. Cheryl Hamlin wondered how far she would go to protect abortion access if Roe falls.
"Would I do something illegal? I mean, I don’t know. Right now I don’t think I want to...But...”
My story for
@MSTODAYnews
:
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OB/GYNs don't know how to interpret Mississippi's new abortion laws.
“How much are we going to let her bleed? … Am I going to be at legal risk for saving someone’s life if a court decides the risk to life wasn’t imminent enough?"
For
@MSTODAYnews
:
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It is free to visit the Library of Congress and read the hundreds of letters sent to Justice Thurgood Marshall by third graders who apparently had been instructed to tell him about a book they had read
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I’m in Poplarville, MS waiting for election results in the race for alderman at large. If Jacob Cochran wins, he’ll become the only openly LGBTQ elected official in the state, according to the Victory Fund.
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