"Hidden America: Nation of Women Behind Bars" Act 3: Some inmates diagnosed with mental illnesses reside in bare prison cells. [Original Air Date 2/27/2015] WATCH FULL EPISODES OF 20/20: abc.go.com/shows/2020
This video broke my heart. To see so many good people that went one step too far and now this. It scares me because it could have easily happened to me.
@@rubyrodriguez9182 You have been given a second chance and see the error of your ways. You can heal from trauma that happened to you, which may have caused some of your issues. Do not give into despair. Your life is worth living.
@@rubyrodriguez9182 I just want to tell you a quote I once heard, "suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem". Hang on in there. Think of your loved ones and whoever would have to find you , it works I promise 💜🙏
Some people that aren’t mentally ill pretend to be so they can get out of their crimes. Meanwhile people that actually have mental illness are put in a cement box. Honestly sad....
Cragonos Kritirea It’s very difficult to fake a serious mental illness. A normal person couldn’t bring it off 24/7 plus the individual would have records from school, hospitals, jail records, etc. documenting mental problems
@Cragonos Kritiera I totally agree, my biological father is a 'Paranoid Schizophrenic' and he's NEVER harmed anyone before.. He's fully aware when he's having 'mania' and seeks help immediately💯
That's super true first time I went to prison they came and picked me up from the hospital. Just over minor infections. My orginal crime I drove the getaway car for a burglary not robbery burglary nobody was in the building we were robbing
The black chick is articulate n intelligent. Her school pics are so cute. I work in schools, I see girls like her everyday. Her life could have been so different.
The collective view of inmates is they are all bad and can't change While this may be true many want to change and can! It all depends on the person. I used to work with felons. It was great until the boss who was a narcissist decided to use them against me to get me fired
Very disgusting and ignorant comment. She has a name. Do not address her as, "the black chick." Show some respect. Some of you may come for me because of this comment, but I am right. You wouldn't address her as "the black chick" in public. Because it is ignorant and informal.
Dude she had avenues available to be successful in life but she decided of her own free will to choose the wrong path and the fast life. She herself screwed up.
I was incarcerated with a mentally Ill person. It was clear that she was challenged. Its crazy. . This made me cry. Alot of women have broken lives and endured so much in their youth.
This makes me cry because mental illness is real and a lot of people think it's just taboo and it's really not. I could have been one of those women in prison but I'm so grateful that I have people to care about me after all the trauma I went through as a child. Depression it's something a fight oh, but I'm grateful that God keeps his hands on me.
Her name is Sirlilar Stokes. I can't find anything about a change in her sentence, so I guess she's still there for life. The most recent info I've found is here: reentrytimes.com/women-behind-bars-see-how-prison-has-changed-the-lives-of-these-women/
Apparently not smart enough to stay out of jail. And speculating about what could've been is just a waste of time, she'll be in there for life and she deserves it.
@@alessias.4733 we as all human beings make mistakes not s single person on this earth is perfect. yes she is a criminal that is obviously shown here. but maybe she had a rough childhood - their are alot of things that contribute to someones actions. she acted out for a reason not only this she is already mentally unstable for being bipolar ( this is a hard too live with because i have it) I got lucky and got help straight away this woman probably didnt have the money too see a professional as a child (it said in here growing up she was living is poverty) again not making excuses for her actions i am merely making a point that someone can be book smart even if they need work in the mental department all i am saying is we have no rights too judging her for we have done some wrong at some point no one is perfect
@@TheCreativeAutistic37 sorry, but a rough childhood is no excuse. There are women or men who've been kidnapped, raped, abused, whose parents have been killed or whatever. It may be a tough road ahead but it is a Choice what you do with your life. You're not incapable of thinking before taking actions. She's not in jail because of stealing something from a food store. Try again. If anyone who had a bad childhood did what she was doing and used the excuses you are using, the world would be an even worse place than it already is.
The one lady returned to prison because it was comfortable. She couldn't cope with the real world, so that's why she committed more crimes since that was all she knew.
I love the teachers that talk to them and give them homework. The second young lady is an amazing human. These humans need to be rehabilitated. There is still so much good these women can contribute to the world.
In some states if you take psychiatric drugs you get the maximum sentence for your crime, no time off for good behavior. Sixty percent of these women have mental issues and staying in prison longer because of their disablity. This is so sad for our families, and society. It also puts care of mentally ill women in the care of the prison system instead of dealing with the social issues that made these women sick. When the women get out of prison, they are put into lower paying jobs and the same problems that put them in jail are back . No win situation for these women. An endless circle of pain, rejection and humilation.
Natasha Semrau, I've heard many men and women that were in prison who were actually thankful for their incarceration. They said that they would never have gotten straightened out if they were out in the world. They HAD to learn and make changes because they had no choice. They had opportunities before they were sent to prison, but refused to tackle their demons.
I just said women because l am one , didn't mean to discount the male expirence. If prison helps you, fine and glory be. But l like the idea of sending the mentally ill to a place were they are in a therapeutic environment. Thanks for your input. I want justice for mentally I'll people, because society is not good at helping us.
Natasha, the one big thing about your scenario, is that people can sign out and walk out, even though they are still sick. That has been going on for years and many times they wind up in the same situations they were in.
Well if a person is in a phyc unit not all of them are not going to be able to go in and out. Just maybe that decision could be made on a personal by person basics. I have never heard of mental pacients getting out for vaca unless they haven't committed a crime. Well l hope there would be over sight to make sure dangerous people are properly taking care of. Anything else you can think of to make sure mentally I'll people live a life of equality, safety or healthy manner????
You got that right! Jean Harris who did 13 of a 15 year to life for murder, getting meds was like pulling teeth without novocaine. Her son said that if she had only got her pills from Herman Hy Tarnower when she was supposed to get them, she wouldn't have committed murder.
God Bless for doing this story, it means the world to me as the mother of a mentally I’ll adult son, who the system is failing and I continue to try to save. Only through the grace of God is he not in prison now. Please pray for us.
Some people that aren’t mentally ill pretend to be so they can get out of their crimes. Meanwhile people that actually have mental illness are put in a cement box. Honestly sad....
Breezy S I wouldn’t so you are right BUT this was her baby & her family are the ones affected. Not some stranger. I do think she should be punished but 50plus years is ridiculous and I hope the governor reduces her sentence.
Breezy S when making a sentence they need to asses likelihood to reoffend & her victims (her family)wishes. Lastly her record. All 3 of these things are in her favor. That’s why I think 55yrs is cruel & unusual punishment. Serial rapists don’t get 50yrs. Give her 7-15 or 15-25yrs or at the very least give her 25-LIFE and she has to serve 25 minimum before applying for parole
D Fritz yeah I completely understand. I just...idk feel like what she did was horrible. & although it’s HER OWN baby, it’s still a life taken at the end of the day. I get it though.
She is not sick.. she just wanted some dick and got pregnant then didn’t want her parents being mad... she isn’t crazy she was just ashamed of what she did
This is truly devastating and heartbreaking to watch. I can only imagine how many of these women wish they could reverse what they did that landed them there. 💔🙏🏽
It’s sad to see people throwing away their only life. My mother was one of them. Looking back at her life, she was destined for it. Dropped out of school in 9th grade. Drug use Had baby at 20. (Me) Became heroin addict. In and out of relationships. She was looking for someone to help her in this life but with her lifestyle, she didn’t have any choices outside her social circle. Began committing crimes to feed her drug habit and her kids Getting arrested and spending years at a time in prison , leaving her kids with their other shitty family members whom were not much better off than her. Sad. I used to hate her. Looking back the past couple of years now. I now feel sorry for her. Ultimately, my grandparents failed her at the beginning and it was downhill from there.
Donna Rice I don't think so with this girl, she been in there for awhile and her highlights are not grown out . These are just done. I know people go in with highlights and her hair was blonde when she went in. Look at the video.
That's not right, they are in jail or prison for severe charges and they are getting their hair done. I don't agree with that at all. The people who are dead can't get their hair done. Then they should do it for all the inmates at that point, which is fair and just!
She got all those years for accidentally killing new born baby’s. Understandable to give a mentally unstable person jail time to teach them a lesson Bc that was just plain irresponsible BUT other people murder and torture someone and only get 20-30 years. That is not fair to her
She murdered to innocent babies you can buy that unintentionally B.S. all day buy when cover a child's mouth that long your intention was to kill and she deserves to be exactly where she at.
I used to work at prison that housed mental health inmates. We would have inmates who had episodes and I would deal with it because I had the patience to get them secured until they came back to reality. The best way was to pretend like you see or hear what they hear. It helps them for more than people realize
Wow what that girl said about freedom. Blew my mind. In prison you gotta be someone your really not. And to be able to be yourself is amazing. Made me feel do grateful.
My mother was driving me crazy. I moved out her house, never looked back. After seeing a psychiatrist , I told him, "I feel like a Tee-Pee and a "Wigwam". He said, "You're two tents". The jokes don't get no better than this.
Damn, it’s crazy because everything she said she didn’t have, I literally have it all😭 I swear this made me so much more grateful for what God has given me❤️🙏🏾 I’m praying for these women💔
This is why parents being so strict only hurt children. As a parent your child needs to feel like they can tell you anything and that you will be there to help them work things out before they do something stupid like the first girl.
I sing that same song! God bless those women they could have been so much better if they were given the support they needed for their illness or during their childhood.
Actually inmate are allowed to get a tablet the family can purchase for them especially if they have a long sentence but it could've been a phone as well. Everything we have. They can get.
Monsters don't have beautiful smiles and innocent eyes. These are still women, they are still human, despite what they've done. I believe that something of good can still be, can still exist, even if it's just a slither of something decent in all of us, no matter who you are, or where you are or what you're going through in life. They are remorseful and desire to make some kind of peace or atonement in their lives, but of course not condoning the crimes they committed. These women are more than their crime. Anyone is.. They are still someone's daughter, sister mother, or friend. Something happens along the way, for us all. Judge not, lest ye be judged. Humans, especially if they are mentally ill, do not belong on stone "beds", locked inside isolated cells with stone walls. That would be considered animal cruelty, even if it were a stray dog being confined in that manner. They still should be treated with respect to being human, and not with indecency. No matter what. Period.
12th man • You are right. Sentencing in China? North Korea? Hard labor 7 days a week sunup to sundown. People rarely live a few years of that. Get caught stealing in Singapore? They cut off both your hands. Peaceful protest in Iran? Just as we saw a few days ago, they shoot you down. So yeah. I’d rather do my time here.
I love it! " I'm going to take the position that I'm not here to punish, the courts did that!" Thank you!!! They're being punished now help them!! When your child messed up at home do you write them off as a lost cause? Normally not, you try to guide and correct them, in my opinion this is no different although it is more challenging...
amen girl!!! she was "perfect daughter" before she killed those babies!!!! she's going to hell. she knew what she was doing! those church songs aren't gonna help her. she makes me angry using mental illness as a crutch for murder! girl wasn't mentally ill, just selfish & evil!
This girl DID NOT want her babies. Her christian parents probably would have scolded her. She knew exactly what she was doing, trying to please her holier than thou christian family. Ain't no mental illness in that.
Mentally healthy people do not kill their babies. Of course she was mentally ill. But that doesn’t excuse what she did or give her a get out jail card. But to say she is not sick is really fucked up
Debbie Potter She’s not mentally ill at all!!! If she was worried about what her parents would say because they were Christians she would of never had sex... sex before marriage is a sin that’s one of the first sins we all learn!! Not mental illness just an excuse
My heart breaks for these women they are beautiful women .. They are special I have a mental illness so I know what they are going through its so hard sometimes
3:01 touches the heart and soul giving the person on the other side of the door a moment with them and God! Just to know that there is someone who is not afraid to pray with and for that someone on the other side of that door! My mom always said: "There before the grace of God, go I!" Always try to look for the good in people, unless you have been with that person all the days of their life, you don't know what has happened to them. Don't pass judgment until you know the whole truth, the Real truth! And even then, stop, think and even pray for that person. We don't know, we may never know, but God Does!
Many of these people not all lack of confidence,conscious,love,money Mental illness is a issue you can have all and still have a mental breakdown I hope those people find self love
We failed the first girl ..WE failed her ...probably both..but if she was educated to know her choices ..this would never have happened .. country and religions(let alone mental health) that confuses and terrifies these young women into making these choices..her sentence is barbaric
Amy v no one makes you kill your babies not even religion. You are responsible for yourself. I grew up in a Christian fundamental home. I knew about my body parents, condoms, ovulation and how sexual organs work. You know how i knew? I read books. Didnt get pregnant in my teens. This girl was an adult. I didnt fail her, her momma, or daddy didnt fail her she played and failed herself. Its child abuse to the highest degree.
I didn’t fail her. Her parents failed her. She failed herself. No remorse for a baby killer. She knows right from wrong and decided to make the wrong decision because she was ashamed of being pregnant. She’s getting exactly what she deserves
No one can really identify with another unless they understand their unique situation. And everyone has their unique situations, not just similar situations.
Amy v The Christian religion explicitly forbids murder and I seriously doubt this young lady was unaware of her choices. According to the Christian religion, she should have given birth to the baby and either kept it or put it up for adoption. She failed God, and by extension, the Christian religion. Society did not fail her. Another question is this: why is it fine for cities like NYC to consider legalizing partial birth abortion (the murdering will be done by the medical professionals) but will severely punish the average Joeleen for the same act? The hypocrisy is so frustrating!
Makes you wonder why she would be so afraid to tell her family. What was going on that she didnt feel she could at her age. I was a teen mom and told my family as soon as I found out. So sad.
