Steven also tried to hang himself. That explains his nakedness. At the Hennepin County Jail, as at most others in the country, large and small, coping with mental illness has become routine. Those types of things. The jail has nurses on staff 24 hours a day.
Psychologists visit several times a week.
Steven was arrested for trespassing, we learn later. That's a charge that usually leads to little or no jail time. In Steven's case, his attorneys argue he's incompetent to stand trial, so he'll spend six weeks in jail waiting for a hearing. The Justice Department says mentally ill inmates generally serve longer sentences than those without mental disorders because they're more likely to break rules or get in fights. As in early 19th-Century America, jails and prisons now function as the nation's asylums.