Mental illness in prisons goes untreated, resulting in deaths

As Marcus Penman slammed his head against a cell door while suffering a mental health episode, not one Kentucky state prison guard tried calming him down. And no mental health care provider was called to deescalate the crisis.

Instead, a 40-minute video obtained by USA TODAY showed a detention officer pepper-spray Penman three times in the face, then tase him six times – including with an electric shock that lasted 18 seconds. A team of six officers – none of whom had any extraction training – dragged Penman out of his cell.