DOJ survey discovers the obvious: Inmates are unhappy

Don't be so overwhelmed by the stunning numbers in the new DOJ report to be released later today that you miss the absurdity of the whole thing.

The data come from surveys completed by inmates themselves, asked about symptoms in the past 12 months, or since admission, of things like “feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt,” “increased/decreased interest in sexual activities,” or even “thoughts of revenge.”

One wonders why they didn’t ask if any of these jailed prisoners felt a sense of social isolation.

The very real problem of criminalizing the mentally ill can only be addressed by identifying the failures of the mental health system responsible for keeping them out of jail.