The person living it
Someone with serious mental illness, in their own words, at every stage from arrest to reentry.
First profile coming
Active campaign · Let Families In
4 years. 0 in-person family visits.
The $575 million Marion County jail opened with video-only visits. Families were told it was temporary. Four years later, only attorneys and professionals get in the room. We want to know why, and we want it changed.
2022Year the jail opened with video-only family visits
$575MCost of the Community Justice Campus, which includes the jail
0 of 2Sheriff candidates who have publicly committed to bringing visits back
13%Lower risk of a new felony conviction for people who got any visit (Minnesota study)
Latest stories
All stories →The first stories are being reported now. Subscribe to get them the moment they're published.
A continuing investigation
Follow the investigation
The Mad and the Bad
When someone with serious mental illness is charged with a crime in Indiana, the system sorts them into one of three boxes. We're investigating what each box costs the person inside it.
01Guilty
Convicted and sentenced like anyone else. The illness may or may not come up.
02Guilty but mentally ill
The court recognizes the illness. Indiana law still requires the same sentence as a plain guilty verdict.
03Not responsible by reason of insanity
Found not responsible, then committed to a state hospital with no fixed end date.
Stand With
About these profiles →The family beside them
The parents, partners and children who make the calls, learn the rules, and serve a sentence of their own.
First profile comingThe one who got it right
The deputy, nurse, public defender or judge who treated someone in crisis as a person. We name the good too.
First profile comingWorth Reading
Full list →- 'Guilty But Mentally Ill' doesn't protect against harsh sentencesNPR, 2016
A clear, short introduction to the verdict at the center of The Mad and the Bad.
- Punishing the Insane: The Verdict of Guilty but Mentally IllJournal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 2002
Psychiatrists Melville and Naimark on what the GBMI label adds, and what it fails to add.
- Not Guilty, Yet Continuously ConfinedAmerican Criminal Law Review, Georgetown
How a successful insanity defense can lead to confinement longer than a prison sentence.
Be heard.
If you or someone you love has lived with mental illness inside the Indianapolis justice system, your story can help the next family.
We talk first, protect identities, and publish nothing until you've read it and said yes.
Stay close
Get the next story first
One story or finding at a time, written with care. No spam, and you can leave any time.
Substack link coming soon