Since the Reagan administration, states have closed homes for the mentally ill, saying churches and private groups would step up and care for the mentally ill. Well, we know now, for a fact, that they haven't stepped up. Indeed, looks like they are retreating into their sanctified churches and safe homes. They leave the mentally ill to the criminal justice system instead. How can a society allow the mentally ill to get arrested (for epilepsy, Tourette's Syndrome, anger issues, etc.) and placed in prisons, where they face criminals and people who harm rather than help them?

I don't know about you, but if the medics who oversaw my medical visits--14 times within one month--didn't realize my very flesh was being eaten, I'd change doctors. Then again, I'm in the Free World and can. Inmates can't. That's why this Washington case is so, so sad: after months of pain and a string of medical visits, Ricardo Mejia was taken to a free-world hospital, where he died an unnecessary death . The lawsuit said, “While in state custody, Ricardo Mejia’s medical providers ignored obvious signs of infection and serious illness and he literally rotted to death under their care through negligence and deliberate indifference.” Even that negligence didn't allow the court to find any one person actually guilty of neglect. What does it take?

When you are in prison in a wheelchair, you don't have many options. Certainly you can't pick your doctor or health care system. But things got out of hand for Texas inmate Donald Eubanks. He asked and asked for help; filled out grievances; was turned down and way repeatedly, with minimal care. So finally he's filed suit--because he lost his legs and a testicle, for instance, and part of a colon, etc. Thank goodness a judge agreed to allow a jury to review the facts. Generally, the "deliberate indifference" standard is so high that no facts can reach it. Indeed, plenty of personnel in this story were already relieved of any liability. But one doctor-Dr. Kokila D. Naik-- will face trial over this disaster

The Ninth Circuit looked at the inmate's facts (lost teeth and pain when no dentist helped) and concluded that the inmate cannot sue the employees when the state itself is responsible for funding the dental office. "Chief Judge Alex Kozinski said in the majority opinion. He noted that prisoners seeking damages must prove, under federal law, that government employees intentionally violated their rights or were "deliberately indifferent" to their needs." So what's an inmate to do when denied basic health and dental care? He had already sued the state and lost because the state didn't have adequate resources to pay a reward. Talk about Catch-22 for Inmates!

According to the accompanying report below, officials at Central California Women's Facility gave out improper and unneeded medicines because they had a contract with a pharmaceutical company that sold them the medicines. Can you imagine taking anti-HIV medicine for 10 years, transferring to another prison--and learning you don't even have the disease? Happened

Solitary confinement began as a means of segregating violent prisoners. Today, however, it is overused and used illogically, according to both prison advocates and the president of Texas' local guard union, Lance Lowry. The average stay in Texas solitary is just under two years. YEARS! Yet the new head of Colorado Corrections spent one 23-hour stint in a solitary cell last month and almost cracked; Colorado is revising its policy. Texas' executive director of Criminal Justice Brad Livingston expects Texas to follow with its own re-examination. Let's hope he doesn't just appoint another committee. We know there's a problem. Texas is holding more than 7,200 inmates in solitary, some for reputed gang affiliation.

Join me and a host of experts at the Dallas national Prisoners' Family Conference. Learn how to care for yourself while helping your Loved One. The plenary speakers are dynamic; the quiet times shared with others in your situation will enrich your life. Do join us!

Steve Martin consults across the country on prison issues. He is an expert with all the experience: he's been a guard, a lawyer, general counsel, and now activist. And what he is saying is that prison policy must change to save the lives of guards. It's the right thing to do for inmates, too. Return to a system where death-row inmates and those in solitary confinement can earn their way to rewards and even out of solitary. These positive incentives help guards keep control and reward the Good Guys. This makes so much sense that we have to wonder why it isn't that way now.

Between the U.S. Senate and the U.S. attorney's Office, there's optimism and news about drug sentencing. The Senate passed a bill with three key provisions: make crack cocaine sentencing provisions for drugs retroactive; cut mandatory/minimum in half; and grant judges discretion. Then Eric Holder appealed to the pubic and all state bars to forward names/cases that need reviewing for pardons. Amazing! Let's hope these two acts, together, allow many inmates to get out and get new lives.

The Supreme Court has reserved immunity in most cases involving prosecutors. Many of the circuit courts have, also. The 7th Circuit, however, has carved out a wee nitch that might allow those wronged by the legal system to fight back. The Washington Post has investigated and analyzed major arguments and cases in an article worth reading: