According to Heidi Ballard, associate professor in the school of Sociology and Anthropology, locking away a mentally ill person in the United States costs around $75,000 dollars per year on the federal prison system.
Regional director of the American Civil Liberties Union speaker, Adrienne Gavula, will be visiting Otterbein to present her research on some United States prison's policies concerning solitary confinement of the mentally ill on Thursday, Nov. 19.
The ACLU is designed to protect American civil liberties as well as to reform civil liberties. The organization focuses on a wide array of civil liberties including criminal justice reform, marriage equality, border issues, and freedoms of speech.
The ACLU has regular awareness campaigns to put reforms into question. Litigation is one of the many ways the ACLU works to promote awareness of solitary confinement in United States prisons and other civil liberties.
The United States holds 4.4 percent of the world’s population, while United States prisons holds 22 percent of the world’s prisoners according to Politifact. An average of $25,000 of tax payer’s money is spent on each inmate, and an average of $75,000 is spent on inmates living in solitary confinement.
The difference in these numbers is a big reason why students should be interested in this topic and “should raise some eyebrows” says Ballard.
According to Ballard, between 53 and 55 students have already responded to the RSVP for the event but that it will remain open until all seats are filled.
