(11-20-17) I met Mark Tanner briefly while visiting a federal prisoner whose life story I told in my book The Hot House: Life Inside Leavenworth Prison, and was intrigued when Tanner later told me that he had penned a memoir that he soon hopes to get published. Tanner describes what happens in prisons, in this instance, an actual case that dealt with a prisoner with a serious mental illness. I hope he finds a publisher soon. Until then you can read more of his work at his website.

A Mental Health Case in Prison

Excerpt from upcoming book by Mark Tanner entitled Sallyport Life: Stories from Inside America’s Federal Prison and Parole Systems.

Tyrone Kelley 02567-135

I first met inmate Tyrone Kelley when he kicked me in the head while in the Special Housing Unit (SHU) at Allenwood Federal Prison.

He was being escorted by another staff member to the indoor recreation area when he broke away from the officer’s grasp and tried to head-butt him. I happened to be down range when I heard the commotion and ran toward them. The officer was struggling to get Kelley under control and they both fell to the floor. As I got there, Kelley was kicking his legs so I tried to grab them to help restrain him. Well, I missed one leg and he kicked me in the head. After a struggle, we finally got him under control, placed leg-irons on him then placed him in a holding cell.  I had a nice headache for a while but nothing serious.

Kelley was an interesting case. He had severe mental health problems but when he was on his medications, he was reasonable. Kelley was from Kansas City, Missouri and began his criminal life at age 14. It started with truancy in 1964 and by the end of the year, he was arrested for possession of a handgun and a butcher knife. The courts ordered a term of probation and attendance in school. By May of 1965, he committed an armed robbery and was committed to the State Training School for Boys in Bonneville, Missouri. Kelley was paroled on 3/1/66 but was returned to custody seven months later as a parole violator. He was paroled a second time from the juvenile conviction on 7/25/67 at age 17.

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(11-15-17) Perhaps it would be fitting for Corporal George Merkel’s sentence to include a week of living homeless on the streets. According to an earlier NBC story, “Crisis Intervention Team training is mandatory for new recruits with Prince George’s County police… (and) all officers have received a CIT refresher as part of their yearly in-service training.” Where was he when class was in session?

By Drew Gerber  The Washington Post

A Prince George’s County police officer was found guilty Tuesday of assault and official misconduct for pulling a homeless woman by her ears and slapping her to roust her from sleeping in the doorway of a store.

George Merkel, a corporal with about 15 years in the department, was convicted during a two-day bench trial before Prince George’s County Circuit Judge Dwight D. Jackson.  Merkel’s attorney, Robert C. Bonsib, declined to comment on the verdict. Merkel was placed on administrative leave after the Sept. 22, 2016, incident.In what he called “a difficult case,” Jackson said his verdict was guided by two events he deemed “somewhat extraordinary”: that Merkel’s actions so bothered fellow officers they reported them to supervisors, and that the homeless woman, while incoherent, had her “sensibilities offended,” according to her testimony.Events began about 1 a.m. that morning when Merkel was on patrol and encountered the sleeping woman in front of a closed pawnshop in Lanham, attorneys in the case said.

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Vietnam Veteran Nurse Lynda Van Devanter 

(11-13-17) Thank you my good friend, Susan Van Devanter Infeld, for reminding me this Veterans Day weekend about women who serve in our armed forces and the mysterious threads that often bind us together.

While working at The Washington Post in 1981, I read a tiny news item about Susan’s sister, Lynda Van Devanter, talking about her experiences as a nurse in Vietnam during the war. Eager to learn more, I interviewed Lynda and the resulting front page story turned out to be one of the first major news pieces about the role that nurses played in Vietnam.

Lynda spoke eloquently about post traumatic stress disorder, as well as, the harmful side effects of the herbicide Agent Orange. Equally important, her candor woke up our nation to the capabilities of American servicewoman, including skills that were being largely ignored at a time because of limited opportunities for women in the military.

Not only did Lynda’s interview have national impact, it also helped change the direction of my career and life.

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Investigators work at the scene of a mass shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Sunday Nov. 5, 2017. A man opened fire inside of the church in the small South Texas community on Sunday, killing more than 20 people.(Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

(11-10-17) Ron Honberg, the senior policy advisor at the National Alliance on Mental Illness, was asked by The Hill newspaper to comment about mental illness and violence after the recent horrific shooting inside a Texas church. Here is his analysis.

A prejudicial narrative about mass shootings: that mental illness was involved

By Ron Honberg

Sadly, what has become an all-too-familiar heartbreaking tragedy has occurred yet again: another mass shooting. As the details unfold hour-by-hour in the small Texas town of Sutherland Springs and throughout the country, a prejudicial narrative has once again made its way into the conversation before all the facts are revealed: that mental illness was involved. You can go to an inpatient drug rehab to get the necessary help for your addiction problems.

Immediately after the shooting, we heard President Trump, and others, offer the statement that the Texas shooting was, “a mental health problem.” When shocking mass tragedies occur, public officials and others frequently rush to speculation about the mental health of the shooter and how mental illness must be to blame. After all, how could someone who is emotionally stable do something so terrible?

A review of recent mass tragedies reveals that while mental illness was a factor in some, these types of random acts of violence occur relatively infrequently and a number of them in recent years have not involved mental illness. When we take a step back even further and look at gun homicides as a whole, most do not involve mental illness. In fact, studies show that mental illness contributes to only about 4 percent of all violence, and the contribution to gun violence is even lower.

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(11-6-17) Sana Campbell has started a petition drive ( that you can sign) to move her son from prison into a state hospital and is hoping to plead her case in person to outgoing Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe.

Sana is praying Gov. McAuliffe will grant Christopher Sharikas a conditional pardon that would send him from a prison cell to a state mental hospital bed for treatment. He would remain incarcerated but would get help.

USA TODAY published my OP Ed last week explaining why a then “child” with a severe mental illness was given a double life prison sentence that is much, much harsher than others charged with similar crimes.

Please join me in urging outgoing Governor McAuliffe to meet with Sana Campbell and support her by signing her petition and sharing this post on Facebook. You can email the governor about this mother’s effort to get her ill son sent to a state hospital after 20 years in prison.

Va. case shows desperate need to put the mentally ill in treatment, not prison

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(11-3-17) Today my father would have been 97 years old. He died in February 2015 from “dementia.” That was officially listed as his cause of death. There is not a day that passes when I don’t think of him.

I published a story about my father in The Washington Post after our last Father’s Day together. I am reposting it today in his memory and also to call attention to this illness.

Taking care of someone with dementia is an experience difficult  to describe but immediately understood by those of us who have done it. If you are one of those caregivers, I salute you.

A FATHER’S DAY GOODBYE

First published in THE WASHINGTON POST 

 By Pete Earley    

Father’s Day found me with a man who often doesn’t remember who I am, although we have spent much of his 93 years together. My father has dementia.

Five years ago, I persuaded my parents to move from Spearfish, S.D., into a second house that my wife and I own that doubles as my office. Leaving a community where they were well-established was difficult. But they enjoyed seeing grandchildren, spent Saturdays at garage sales and played Upwords with me at lunch time. It was good.

I first noticed little things. Forgetfulness, confusing names. It’s part of aging, I thought.

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