Friends-- please contact Tom directly if you can be of any help..... *********************************************************** ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 11:32:46 -0500 From: "Davis, Thomas" <dav...@northjersey.com> To: Rick Halperin Subject: from Tom Davis of The Bergen Record Hi Rick. Basically, I was chosen for a Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Journalism Fellowship, led by the former first lady. I was given a $10,000 stipend to do a project related to mental illness. My project is on the treatment of people with mental illness who have been incarcerated, or could be incarcerated. This could be anybody from alleged petty thieves to murderers to political prisoners. I've traveled the country to investigate programs in places like, believe it or not, Alaska, where some people with a pioneering spirit have come up with alternatives for people with mental illness other than jail. But I've also traveled the country to look at the ugliness of mental illness and crime, including Texas. I was moved by Lois Robisons' story about her son. I'd like to compare what other countries, particularly those that don't have a death penalty, would deal with a similar situation to Lois'. I'd like to see what they offer as alternatives, and, of course, how they compare to here (and also how other countries view the way the mentally ill are handled here). I was curious to know if you or somebody could point me to particular countries that could address these questions. I was also wondering if you've looked at countries such as the Sierra Leone or Bosnia where the treatment of prisoners in general is a travesty (I hear that the treatment of the jailed mentally ill in Australia is deplorable). Thanks for your help Rick. Looking forward to hearing from you.
