Mar 9, 2018
Nearly every time there’s a mass shooting in this country, you can predict what will follow like clockwork. First come the thoughts and prayers. Then comes the scapegoating of “the mentally ill.” Notably absent: any meaningful steps toward commonsense gun violence prevention. The national debate following the tragic mass shooting at a Florida school has unfortunately been no exception, with President Trump even calling for a return to mass institutionalization of people living with mental illness. To bust some of the myths around mental illness and gun violence, Rebecca speaks with Mary Giliberti, the CEO of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Next, to dig into the historical context on these issues, she talks with Ari Ne’eman, founder and past president of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network and a former Obama appointee to the National Council on Disability, who recently authored an article in The American Prospect chronicling America’s ugly history of mass institutionalization and involuntary commitment.