Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

You can paste full URL like: https://x.com/threadreaderapp/status/1644127596119195649
or just the ID like: 1644127596119195649

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

  1. On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
  2. Click again on or Share Via icon
  3. Click on Copy Link to Tweet
  4. Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
  5. More info at Twitter Help
Isabelle Taft Profile picture
Isabelle Taft
@IsabelleTaft
reporting fellow @NYTNational | before: @MSTODAYnews, @dstodayunion, @ProPublica Local Reporting Network, @sunherald | email: isabelle.taft@nytimes.com
May 28, 2024 • 16 tweets • 5 min read
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)
mississippitoday.org/2024/05/28/bap…
Portrait of a young woman sitting on a bed, her hands folded on her lap. 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. Image of an incident report produced by deputies at the DeSoto County Sheriff's Department. The narrative reads: "Today March 14, 2022 myself and Deputy Howell were sent to Baptist Desoto to take REDACTED into custody on a Writ to to take custody for Mental Evaluation. REDACTED was taken into custody at approximately 1235 hours and transported to the Desoto County Detention Center. REDACTED was released to the Detention Center at approximately 1300 hours. REDACTED was given his copy of the Writ as well as the Detention Center was given theirs. REDACTED was transported without incident....
Dec 7, 2023 • 23 tweets • 6 min read
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.🧵: This photo shows a jail holding cell, labeled A020 on top of the door. 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. A headshot of a young woman smiling. She wears glasses, a cross necklace and a green and black sweater.
Nov 13, 2023 • 21 tweets • 5 min read
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) A padded jail cell. A blue mattress and black blanket lie on the floor. The cell also contains a toilet and a sink. 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.
Jul 27, 2023 • 20 tweets • 5 min read
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) Image 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. Image