Editorial: SC can help reduce the number of mentally ill 'caught in the cycle'

The Post and Courier Pee Dee reports that Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight.

Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight.

A jail employee walks through Tower A, which houses the Behavioral Management Unit where some inmates with serious mental illnesses are held in Charleston County's Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center.

A jail employee walks through Tower A, which houses the Behavioral Management Unit where some inmates with serious mental illnesses are held in Charleston County's Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center.

The complex problem of how we handle mentally ill defendants — how we preserve their right to a fair trial, help them get the care they need and keep the rest of us safe — affects all 50 states, as readers of The Post and Courier's Caught in the Cycle investigative series have no doubt learned.

This report thoroughly documents the mental health crisis in South Carolina's county jails and details its heartbreaking impact on too many lives.