Transferring inmates within the California prison system is so common, there’s a term for it: “diesel therapy.”
In one case, a mentally ill inmate named Adam Collier was transferred 39 times in just four years. CalMatters video journalist Byrhonda Lyons wrote an investigative story on how California’s penal system’s response to mental ill inmates seems to be transferring them around.
“[Prison is] a confined environment. For people who are seriously ill, it can be a place where as you get sick you act out, as you act out you're punished, and it's a cycle. And so we spoke to dozens of people who are still incarcerated in California, and many of them said, ‘I'm shocked to anyone noticed [this pattern of constantly moving mentally ill inmates].’ A lot of people who are incarcerated don't have family members who are watching them,” Lyons told “Inside the Issues” host Alex Cohen.
Most prison advocate groups didn’t even know about this issue, Lyons noted. Adam Collier’s story became central to Lyons’ piece as Collier’s mother kept meticulous records of her son’s transfers for the years he was in prison.
“I remember when [Collier’s mother] first called me, and I reached out to a few advocates asking, had they heard of this? And no one had. In fact, someone said, ‘his story sounds so drastic, it's hard to even believe,’” Lyons said.
Collier found himself in prison for exposing himself in public to a woman while high on meth. He had been hospitalized for mental health related issues 14 times during his four years in prison. While his medical records contained graphic descriptions of self-harm, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation responded by transferring Collier 39 times within those four years.
The California prison system was under court monitoring for abuse and neglect of those with mental health disorders or illnesses three decades prior to Collier’s death, Lyons’ CalMatter’s investigation found.
Collier’s parents filed a wrongful death complaint in federal court. This came after the Office of the Inspector General, which provides independent oversight of prisons, described several internal problems which resulted in poor handling of Collier’s care.
“[Adam Collier] never got any help, really. He ended up in prison, and that began these transfers and him moving around and he just got sicker and sicker and sicker,” Lyons said.
Getting doctors to believe prisoners are actually mentally ill, and not fabricating their illnesses it is extremely challenging, Lyons mentioned. Transferring inmates happens so often there’s a term for it “diesel therapy,” the notion being that you move challenging prisoners around to keep them from wearing out staff in any one facility.
“One of the things that happens is that when you are a guard or when you are a healthcare provider for people who are sick, they act out in different ways and it's not necessarily a safe environment sometimes,” Lyons continued. “And so the question is, how do you care for people, and also make sure that the employees are safe and in an environment where they are supported and where they're not being attacked.”
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