CONCORD, NH – Nancy West, founder of InDepthNH.org, would like to speak with anyone who has a family member in the Secure Psychiatric Unit at the state prison in advance of Thursday’s House Health & Human Services Committee public hearing [see contact information below.]
The hearing on HB 1541-FN is set for Thursday, February 18 at 10 a.m. in room 205 in the Legislative Office Building in Concord. The legislation is to prohibit placement of certain persons with a mental illness in the secure psychiatric unit, and authorizing the commissioner of the department of corrections to seek therapeutic alternatives.
In November, West reported on the practice of locking up the mentally ill who have committed no crime at the state prison.
“It shocked me to find out there’s people who have never been convicted of a crime who are incarcerated behind the walls of state prison,” said Rep. Robert Cushing, D-Hampton, who toured the prison facility last fall with other lawmakers.
Click here to read the complete story.
⇒Call Nancy West at 603-738-5635 if you have family in the Secure Psychiatric Unit at state prison.
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About InDepthNH: Nancy West founded the nonprofit New Hampshire Center for Public Interest Journalism in April. West is the executive editor of the center’s investigative news website InDepthNH.org. West has won many awards for investigative reporting during her 30 years at the New Hampshire Union Leader. She has taught investigative journalism at the New England Center for Investigative Reporting’s summer program for pre-college students at Boston University. West is passionate about government transparency. The New Hampshire Center for Public Interest Journalism is a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News, formerly called Investigative News Network, which is also InDepthNH.org’s fiscal sponsor. Click here to read about INN to learn more about the mission of nonprofit news.
