Show Notes:

Episode 2: Forensic Commitment

Episode transcript here.

In this episode, we take on forensic commitment, the psychiatric commitment of those who are facing criminal charges but are legally considered not competent to stand trial  We unpack how the jail and state hospital systems are connected with each other through forensic commitment, and how there is a surplus of people in the jails who are awaiting space for beds to open up in the state hospital system. This has created pressure for an expansion of forensic commitment space in the state hospital system, something that abolitionists and reformers have addressed.  We speak with Chris Carney (Carney & Gillespie) again, as well as abolitionist, street medic and nurse SYP, and prison abolition activist Scout Smedley.  Music by Scout Smedley and editing by Nest Audio Co.

Relevant news articles:

Joseph O’Sullivan - $70.9B WA budget proposal boosts funding for behavioral health

Joseph O’Sullivan - Washington state buys shuttered psychiatric hospital in Tukwila

Laurel Demkovich and Jerry Cornfield - New Washington budget boosts state spending by $2B

Other resources - 

No New Washington Prisons - https://www.nonewwaprisons.com/

An Abolitionist Guide to Western State Hospital 

No New Washington Prisons Zine Library

Carney & Gillespie PLLP on Trueblood vs. Washington State Department of Social and Health Services