Malis with malice, and Juneteenth

A long-time client whom I’ll call Jack has been locked up at DSH, née Elgin Mental Health Center, for about 30 years. He did commit a murder, but he was found “Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity” by the court and sold into the forensic psychiatric slave system rather than sentenced to prison.

Fairly early on, Jack stopped taking psychiatric “medication”, and it has been many years now since he behaved badly, in any scary way or any way that’s more than a slight nuisance, at DSH. He’s a very bright man, actually. He could almost certainly work, contribute and be happy if he were manumitted. Unfortunately, at the moment Richard Malis is his psychiatrist.

Malis has seen a court order which ordered DSH to create a treatment plan for Jack that does not require psychiatric drugs. He violates that court order every month, by absolutely refusing to consider that Jack might not need drugs. He maliciously invents “delusions” which Jack supposedly has, to argue that this patient is psychotic and “needs” the drugs that he hates and Malis loves, and that everyone knows Jack doesn’t need and will never take.

Jack never voices those “delusions” that Malis accuses him of having. He just refuses to discuss his beliefs with Malis. Jack could easily disavow or clarify the beliefs which Malis says (but of course, can never prove) are “delusional”. However, Malis would almost certainly only try to incriminate Jack by any discussion, so I have advised him as his legal counsel that it’s probably wise to refuse all conversation with the plantation overseer. I think he mostly follows my advice.

The trouble is, Malis is malicious. Jack has glaucoma, and should see an opthamalogist regularly to test the pressure in his eyes and make sure the glaucoma medicine is working. He hates having to go to a medical facility in handcuffs, which are only required for a trip to the doctor because Malis has pulled his passes out of pure retribution for Jack’s getting better without psychiatric “medicine”. The life-long brain disease, “schizophrenia”, is a central and vital article of faith in psychiatry. Anyone who gets better, especially without drugs, insults Malis’ religion.

Thus Jack does not get the proper standard of care for glaucoma. He refuses to be transported in handcuffs and leg irons to the opthamalogy clinic, because it’s demeaning and counter-productive for his medical care. Doctors and nurses are not pleased to have a patient arrive in restraints with guards; it makes all their other patients nervous for one thing, and it prejudices clinicians against the apparent “dangerous criminal”.

I recently attended a monthly staffing for Jack. I commented in the presence of Tom Zubik, the current forensic director of DSH, that there just has to be some way to get Jack his opthamalogical care. Tom was concerned. He thinks it would be very inconvenient and embarrassing if Jack’s eyeball explodes, or if he ends up with a detached retina, because DSH is unable to get him to the clinic regularly. People might notice... that DSH sucks as a supposed “hospital”, and that in fact this is a slave plantation.

There’s nothing more powerful as a symbol or demonstration of slavery than a black man in chains. Malis is an idiot in his malice. And guess what, tomorrow is Juneteenth!


Psychiatria delenda est!