Wouldn't it be completely irrational to sentence every mentally ill individual to prison simply because he suffers from a mental illness? Often mentally ill people behave eccentrically and attract the attention of police officers who do not differentiate mentally ill people from mentally stable people and immediately charge them with minor crimes. There are approximately 300,000 prisoners, whose number increases every year, who suffer from mental illnesses and do not receive adequate treatment. Prisons are not adequately equipped to care for mentally ill inmates, which can lead to an escalation of an inmate's illness. The company has failed to provide sufficient social resources to citizens suffering from psychiatric illnesses in its community, transferring mentally unstable individuals between mental institutions and prisons, when in reality adequate supports such as the provision of adequate medications, rehabilitation opportunities and more psychiatric hospitals in communities are a necessary solution to replenish these individuals. Many times people with untreated mental illness behave in abnormal ways that disturb the public, causing them to be perceived as scary and dangerous which attracts the attention of police officers. Harrington agrees that, "Without the medications they need to keep their illness under control, they sometimes fall into psychophysical stressors and behave in bizarre ways." (Harrington) A mentally unstable individual's perspective on what is and what is not acceptable varies from that of a healthy person. Therefore, they are unable to understand correct public behavior. From public urination to public nescience, they are accused of minor crimes and sentenced to prison. Shannon Fiack points out that “There is a foundation…at the heart of the paper…the mentally ill. Shannon Fiack. “The Mentally Ill Are Mistreated by the Justice System” by American Civil Liberties Union. Mental illness and criminal behavior. Shannon Fiack, ed. In IssueSeries. Greenhaven Press, 2009. American Civil Liberties Union, “Mental Illness and theDeath Penalty in the United States,” ACLU, January 31, 2005. Reproduced by permission. In the article “The Mentally Ill Are Mishandled by the Justice System,” Shannon explains how in one prison there are approximately 3,000 mentally ill inmates who are unjustly sent there. Many mental illnesses are caused by post-traumatic experiences such as sexual abuse as a child or sexual abuse as a child. It also explains how many times judges and officials don't fully understand why mentally ill people do what they do, so they misunderstand the person's actions and send them.