A Scandal in Our Prisons

Tragically, Latson's situation is not unique. Rather, it reflects the criminal justice system's difficulty in dealing with people with mental illness and intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Indeed, Virginia reached an out-of-court settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice after being threatened with a lawsuit for failing to make adequate provisions to keep people with intellectual and developmental disabilities from being institutionalized.

The independent monitor overseeing the settlement last month asked the Justice Department to review cases like Latson's, where individuals with disabilities have been incarcerated, to determine whether the state was living up to the changes to its promises.

"Neli is important because he exemplifies one of the systemic problems that the settlement agreement addresses," said Alison Barkoff, a former Justice Department lawyer now with the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law.

"When services are not readily available in the community, behavioral health crises are often treated as a crime," Barkoff said. "It is counterproductive, costly and inhumane to punish people for their disabilities instead of getting them help."

This isn't just a Virginia problem. Criminal justice systems across the country are finding themselves swamped with prisoners with mental illness and intellectual and developmental disabilities.

These individuals need services and treatment; they have the hardest time complying with prison life. So they often wind up in solitary, punishment that serves only to exacerbate their underlying conditions.

Earlier this year, the Justice Department told Pennsylvania that its corrections system was violating civil rights law and the constitutional rights of prisoners with mental illness and intellectual disabilities by keeping hundreds in solitary for months and sometimes years.

Prisoners "are routinely confined to their cells for 23 hours a day; denied adequate mental health care; and subjected to punitive behavior modification plans, forced idleness and loneliness, unsettling noise and stench, harassment by correctional officers, and the excessive use of full-body restraints," Justice found.

I am hopeful that in 2015, Neli Latson will receive the treatment he deserves. I wish I could be more optimistic about thousands of other Neli Latsons languishing in prisons nationwide.

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Ruth Marcus' email address is ruthmarcus@washpost.com.