What is the book about?
It is an autobiography about Edwin Potter (not his real name), a man with schizophrenia. He had no treatment, and, as a result, he killed somebody. This is the true story of his trial, his struggle, and his comeback.
What is the take-away?
The typical prison inmate does not have the skills necessary to succeed in accepted society. That is the problem. What do we do? We were still building prisons in the 1990s as the solution to crime. That did not work as history has shown. I wrote in 1999 based upon my experience that we need to teach them: reading, writing, arithmetic, social skills, job skills, language skills. They need mentors, housing, help with their substance abuse, and a change in the laws that keep them from taking part in society. I sent the 1999 article to the NJ governor in 2013 and later a copy of my book in 2016. Now everybody is talking about criminal justice reform. As a note, the mentally ill have a different set of problems that cannot be fixed by throwing them into prison. Schizophrenia, for example, is a neurological problem, a spectrum illness much like autism. They don’t throw people with autism into prison as medical treatment. Why those with schizophrenia?
Web site: www.davidegeiger.com
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Read Goodreads reviews of In the Matter of Edwin Potter at www.davidegeiger.com
Read the preview at In the Matter of Edwin Potter: Mental Illness and Criminal Justice Reform: Geiger, David E.: 9780692797822: Amazon.com: Books
IMOEP YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXTtUecRTLU&t=3s
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David Geiger is a licensed and retired professional electrical engineer who spent 7 years in psychiatric hospitals and over 40 years since 1979 in the courts as a result of his schizophrenia. He worked for Consolidated Edison in NYC for 20 years and won recognition and an award for his work there. He writes about his illness in the book as well as those who have the illness and are caught up in the criminal legal system.