Friday, March 29, 2024

By Josh McGhee

In lock-ups, his mental health took a serious dive and, at one point, he spent three straight years in solitary confinement, scarcely leaving his cell. You may have read about him last year when his lawsuit made it all the way to the Supreme Court. What you probably didn’t know was that his 14-year-old daughter’s desire to visit him in prison changed the course of his life.

We also learn about the tragic story of Fredreaka Jack, who died three months after being released from a state forensic hospital. Finally, I’ll share the podcast that has me gripping my steering wheel as I drive to pick up my kid.

Let’s get into it…

---

A story of survival

That case, which was originally filed pro se by the incarcerated man, Michael Johnson, made its way to the Supreme Court, but they refused to hear it. 

“Mr. Johnson’s case was different than the usual solitary confinement case because as an added punishment for misconduct born of his mental illness, prison officials deprived him of all access to exercise,” Greenfield told me. “What that means is that for those three years Mr. Johnson was locked, essentially 24/7, in a windowless cell sealed by a solid metal door.” 

The result of this isolation: an unraveling that included compulsive picking at his skin. His muscles atrophied and he smeared feces on his body and across his cell.

After speaking to Greenfield, I wanted to get to know the man who lived that reality so I made the three-hour drive down to Bloomington to speak with Johnson face-to-face.

What I found was a man who lived a tough life balancing growing up between Chicago and the South. A man, who faced addiction, made mistakes, and suffered grave consequences for those mistakes. A man, whose childhood traversed through psychiatric hospitals, juvenile detention centers, jails and prisons. Most importantly, a father and daughter trying to get back years stolen from them in the name of “criminal justice.”

In total, Johnson would spend 11 years and 11 months in prison for robbing family members while living with addiction. 

Read about how he ended up in that tiny cell and how he got out here.

---

She was released from a forensic hospital and left to her own devices. Three months later, she was dead

At Patton State Hospital, a state forensic facility in San Bernardino, California, Fredreaka Jack could depend on someone to hand her medications each day to manage her schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, as well as her blood sugar, hypertension and hypothyroidism. But that all changed after she was released.

After two years in custody including one at Patton, a court granted her a petition to be paroled in the community. She was sent to Walden House, a state-funded reentry program in Los Angeles County. She was dead within three months.  

“I have never expressed to nobody how much this hurts,” said Jack’s mother Sharon. “I thought my baby was coming home to me. They took that opportunity away from me.”

Her death illustrates the many holes in California’s public parole system, according to an investigation by CalMatters. The nonprofit news site reviewed thousands of pages of medical records and court documents and concluded that her death “was almost preordained.” 

After winning her appeal, she was released from the state’s hospital care and sent to Walden House, where she was forced to navigate the mental and physical health care system on her own. She was given 30 days of medication and the same amount of time to find a doctor and psychiatrist in a new community.

The doctor she found didn’t write her a prescription for diabetes medication, despite her blood glucose being nearly three times the normal range. When prescriptions were filled for her blood pressure, Walden House didn’t log her receiving the medication for days at a time.

Jack ended up in the emergency room over and over again. Over a three-month period, she lost nearly 50 pounds, a sign of diabetes.

At her last ER visit, in July of 2022, a doctor referred Jack back to her psychiatrist – and didn’t seem to believe her. “Patient did not appear to be a reliable historian and has delusional speech,” the doctor wrote in her medical records.“She has a history of schizoaffective disorder, and this is her 4th visit to this emergency room this month.”  

She would die nearly 14 hours later from complications from Type 2 diabetes.

Read the full CalMatters investigation here.

---

What I’m Listening to

a death by suicide of another correctional officer who dared to cross the thin blue line and how it all connects to the murder of an incarcerated man in the dayroom of the prison. Through interviews with family members of the officers and the incarcerated, the reporters illustrate in grim detail the toll that living or working in California prisons can take on their mental health.

As episode 6 began to wind down, Lewis and Small surprised listeners with a bombshell: a confidential source leaked to them new evidence and secret internal tapes. 

You can catch up on the first six episodes here, before episode 7 drops on April 2nd.

Until next month,

Josh McGhee

---

If you or someone you know is in crisis or experiencing suicidal thoughts, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and connect in English or Spanish. If you’re a veteran press 1. If you’re deaf or hard of hearing dial 711, then 988. Services are free and available 24/7.

---