Staff Writer
The
death of Michael Anthony Kerr, an inmate who passed away last year due to
dehydration at Central Prison in Raleigh, sparked a debate about mental health
and inmate treatment. Kerr, who was
serving prison time for assault and larceny, started showing signs of
schizoaffective disorder sometime after the death of two of his sons. However, he was not being treated for his
mental illness and was placed in a prison instead of a mental institution. Kerr was being given medication that was
improving his mental state, but he stopped taking his medication months before
his death. Records show that staff at the prison felt that Kerr was “faking”
his symptoms or acting out. He entered solitary confinement on Feb. 5,
2014. Since he had flooded his cell twice, the water was cut off to his
room. He died on March 12, after 35 days
of solitary confinement.
Following
Kerr’s death, the North Carolina Corrections System saw a stream of controversy. People lost their jobs and at least 25 people
were disciplined at Alexander Correctional Institution, the prison where Kerr
was kept before being transported to Central Prison. Mentally ill inmates at Alexander were
transferred to other facilities due to problems with staffing. The chief nurse supervisor, Jaqueline Clark,
tried to fix the shortage of nurses at the prison. However, she didn’t receive any help from her
superiors and her supervisors made no attempt to make up for the staffing
issues. Ironically, Clark was one of the
nurses fired after Kerr’s death, although a judge ruled that she was wrongly
fired after the fact. Kerr’s sister, Brenda Liles, was extremely upset when he
died and said that the people responsible for his death should be arrested.
The
prison system in North Carolina has been accused of underdiagnosing mental
illnesses and failing to provide adequate treatment. Around 17% of inmates in the state suffer
from mental illness. Despite this fact,
only around 12% of inmates receive the proper treatment. Mental illness is often misunderstood, making
it difficult for inmates to receive the right care. Doctors at the prison didn’t believe Kerr,
and other inmates are often met with the same skepticism.
Kerr’s
death, along with other problems with the state’s prisons, has brought the need
for improvements to the surface. Now, North
Carolina Governor Pat McCrory is requesting $49.8 million over the next two
years for prison improvements in a state that has faced consistent criticism
for its correctional facilities. The
suggested budget will put $17.8 million towards more mental health positions
and $20.8 million towards raises for correctional officers. In addition, a new electronically based
record system and a training center for guards at the prisons will be added if
the budget is introduced. Many experts
say that more staff is essential to prevent oversights as well as overworked
guards and nurses. W. David Guice, the commissioner
of the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice, is one man arguing
for improvement and additional funding.
He says that the correctional facilities are “…working our people to
death.”
This
summer, the General Assembly will be reviewing the proposed budget. Guice, along with other concerned people,
feel that the new budget is a step in the right direction. Many people believe that Michael Kerr’s death
could have been prevented, but new changes in North Carolina’s prisons could
potentially stop something similar from happening again.
