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Abstract: 

Graham v. City of Cleveland, Mississippi, 2019 WL 1386400 (N.D. Miss.), is an odd case involving local police and a hapless detainee who unfortunately is the paradigm example of “the publicly mentally ill.” Early in the morning of July 4, 2016, the police were informed that Kenyarda Graham “was in the street, in his underwear being loud and disorderly....” Cleveland police officers arrived on the scene and placed Graham under arrest for disturbing the peace and malicious mischief. The officers involved in the arrest knew that Graham suffered from a mental illness for which he had previously been hospitalized and for which he takes medication. A complicated series of transfers and hearings followed, but the result was that instead of being placed under the care of mental health professionals, Graham was allowed to deteriorate the in the county “drunk tank,” where he developed a severe bacterial infection that caused significant permanent damage. Despite the absence of care, Graham’s suit failed—in major part because his attorney chose to sue the least responsible parties in the chain of events, the original arresting agency.

Keywords: Graham v. City of Cleveland

Affiliations:  1: Executive Editor.