The criminalisation of the US' mentally ill

The administration of US President Barack Obama is seeking reforms to the country's healthcare system, in order to give 46 million uninsured Americans the opportunity to at last have coverage in the event of illness.



Many of those who are uninsured are people with mental illness who were released from health facilities - and on to the streets with nowhere to go - during the 1970s.


A large number of these unsupported people turned to crime to make ends meet, and were later imprisoned.