Pandemic exacted a steep toll on people with disabilities

Legally blind and alone, Katrina Byrd of Jackson, Mississippi, was reeling from her partner’s death from ALS when the pandemic sent her into isolation, cutting her off from the services and help she needed.

Shattering ordinary people’s mental health

Dillion Swindle of Oxford had just gotten his dream promotion and relocated to Louisiana when COVID-19 smacked the nation in 2020.

Hospital staffing, bed space leave mentally ill defendants languishing in jail

Brad Sellers celebrated his 40th birthday in February in the Clarke County Jail in Quitman, having been there since June 2021 on a charge of aggravated assault on a Quitman police officer.

News, Mississippi News, Public HealthKatherine MitchellMay 2, 2022Brad Sellers, Quitman Mississippi, mental health facilities, Schizophrenia, assault, incompetent to stand trial, Clarke County Jail, Julie Whitehead

Disability denials can amount to a ‘death sentence,’ judge says in Miss. case

Carl Boatner suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary artery disease, two liver diseases, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, major depressive disorder, and anxiety disorder.

Mississippi NewsKatherine MitchellMay 8, 2020mississippi News, Mississippi disability, Disability denial, disability appeal, Carl Boatner, Judge Carlton Reeves, Misssissippi Disability Determination Services, DDS, Doron Dortfmann, Philip E. Herring, Julie Whitehead