Alabama Prioritizes Incarceration, Not Mental Health
Fernando Clark, arrested for stealing cigarettes and fruit, died in an Alabama jail after waiting ten months for court-ordered mental health treatment that never came. This, according to the AP, is just one tragic case in a state where a federal consent decree, issued seven years ago, has done little but watch the waitlist for psychiatric facilities balloon five-fold. The state's 2010 $40 million
mental healthcare budget cut (AP link provided in source) clearly signals a preference: defund care, then warehouse the mentally ill in jails. We are told this problem is 'faced by many states.' Yet, it reflects a national trend where billions flow into policing and incarceration while essential public services, like mental health, are meticulously starved. Lawmakers consistently find funds for
new jails or military aid— defense contractors and lobbyists spend millions ensuring that pipeline remains open—but mental health infrastructure is perpetually deemed 'too expensive.' Perhaps if the mentally ill could form a super PAC, their 'concerns' would be addressed with slightly more urgency.