Friendship

A friend I have not seen since April of 2010, when I wrote this blog about my old apartment building that I used to live in. I lived there for about sixteen years. I knew this friend for about fourteen of those years when she worked in the building. I thought that ended after my court hearing. I watched her start as a receptionist and become manager of the building. I can remember the first time she started and also when my granddaughter was born and she helped me wrap her up to take her to visit my mom and dad, whom lived a block away. I really thought I was going to live in that building until I died. That was until three lawyers formed a corporation and bought the building.
Those lawyers were smart I will give them credit. When I sued them for being slumlords they put her against me. I settled as if you read the prior blog you will see. I had all the evidence to really sock it to them, even though they had a lawyer. When she walked down the block from that court I thought it would be the last time I saw her. I still visit my old friends that live in the building. I had known that she had quit after my court hearing, although no one knew why. I will find out why when I meet her for lunch this Friday. When I last saw my friend three months ago, I also saw her husband and he shook my hand. He speaks Spanish and I don’t so we could not talk to each other.
I also thought she would work there until she retired. Times change and circumstances change. I have often thought why I settled that case, I had so much evidence. When I first filed the case it was against another person who worked for those lawyers. When I went to the second hearing they had put her against me. When you have known someone for thirteen years and went through all the ups and downs and people we both knew that had died that were friends you can’t go against a friend and that is what those lawyer hoped for. I was angry at the time although time changes that.
I am just glad that she found me. Now there is no landlord/tenant in between us and we can be friends. I just have to find out if she is happy with her new job and how her family is. I miss my friends that lived in the building. Although I still go see them. I am happy with my new apartment. My grandkids are getting big and no longer come every weekend like they used to. I am looking forward to Friday. You can also check us out at http://mhcd.org/blog

Mentally ill in Prison

They have mentally ill prisoners in Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado. That is what this article says: “Inside the nation’s most locked-down federal prison, inmates shout, cry, talk to themselves and bang on their cell walls for hours at a time, according to a new lawsuit filed in Denver.” It is the most horrible thing to be locked up when you are mentally ill. I remember, I stayed in my cell and when they asked if I wanted to leave to go to population I would say yes. Then when it was time to move I would get paranoid and not leave.
In this prison they are locked up for twenty three hours a day. “They swallow razor blades, smear feces around their 12-foot-by-7-foot cells and mutilate themselves with sharpened chicken bones. One inmate amputated two of his fingers.” You are not right in the mind so of course they do those things to themselves. A sane person would go insane in the regular prison. I can understand why they would file a lawsuit to get out of there.
The suit says: “…alleges that Bureau of Prisons official are transferring prisoners with diagnosed mental illnesses to Supermax, in violation of the bureau’s policies against housing such inmates there. The suit claims that the prison then basically stops treating those inmates’ mental illnesses including sometimes taking the inmates off prescribed anti-psychotic drugs-making it difficult for the inmates to ever prove they can be transferred out of Supermax. The strict security often worsens the prisoners’ mental-health problems, the suit alleges. That was the worse when I was locked up, being off medication or not having any medication.
I can only hope they fix the problem even if the only way is a lawsuit. I was locked up in eighty nine. There was not that many mentally ill in prison at that time. I know it is worse by now. They would ask why I was not in population. I would never say because I did not understand myself. It is hard on the mentally ill and also on the other inmates.

Colorado Lawsuit

I was reading the paper yesterday and I came across this article about a lawsuit inmates made about being in jail and not knowing when they are going to get medication or if they are going to get a mental evaluation so they can use the insanity defense or be incompetent to stand trial. They can wait two months or more when they could make a deal and get out or go to trial. "All people accused of a crime are guaranteed the right to understand the charges against them and participate in their own defense. Those with mental illnesses sometimes require treatment before they meet that level of competency." They have a right even if there are budget cuts. It is a good thing that this was passed. “The hardest thing about the wait is you’re not getting any help” One reason is: “it’s dangerous to sit in jail.” It sounds different than when I was mentally ill and in jail.
When I was there mentally ill for seven months before I was sent to the State Hospital, it was the hardest being there. The psychiatrist told me she was not going to give me medication because she did not like me. This was in the late eighties. There was not that many mentally ill at that time. When I was on medication and went to the county jail, I enjoyed the status that being mentally ill brought me. No one bothered me or my stuff. I know it is different nowadays. "A court compromise announced Monday means hundreds of mentally ill people accused of crimes in Colorado each year could spend less time waiting for state doctors to determine whether they're ready for trial and to provide treatment if they're not." It is the first time in the nation that this has been done.
There are a lot more mentally ill in jail than at that time. I have not been back to jail since that time so I only know what I read. It sounds like this lawsuit brought a good result. They do not have to wait being mentally ill in jail that long. When I was mentally ill for those seven months it was hard. Normally I like visits when I was in jail. Although when I was ill and they came and visited me I never talked. Could not even understand why they were there and it was my birthday. This lawsuit should help a lot of mentally ill people waiting in jail.