Mental Health Information

Seven years ago, Jonte “Rock Steady” Willis missed making the U.S. Olympic boxing team by two digits on a tiebreaking punch-count scorecard.

Seven years later, the one-time U.S. amateur super heavyweight champion sits in the Pierce County Jail, waiting for admission to Western State Hospital and mental-health treatment theoretically guaranteed by law.

He’s been locked up since July 23 on a no-bail hold. He gets no treatment — no medication, no therapy, no counseling, no help. Legal and bureaucratic barriers hinder it. Judy Snow, the jail’s mental health manager, calls them “cinder blocks.”

A further consequence: Due to his mental status, Willis was held in solitary confinement until a few weeks ago — 23 hours a day in a single cell, alone with his racing thoughts

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/11/23/3499126_tacoma-boxer-trapped-in-state.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy