This fine piece by Jocelyn Wiener appears in the February 26 edition of CalMatters, a probing independent journal based in Sacramento, California. Yet the horrific saga of Mark Rippee, the symbol of mental healthcare decadence in America, a bit of human wreckage stranded on the streets of Vacaville for 13 years, remains mostly hidden in plain sight.
It is time for national investigative outlets to shine their beacons. Where is PBS Frontline? 60 Minutes? 20/20? Dateline? The Weekly? National Public Radio? The Center For Investigative Reporting, right next door to Mark in the San Francisco Bay area? Mother Jones in San Francisco? The Bureau of Investigative Journalism? Pro Publica? RealClearInvestigations?
For God’s sake, investigators, do your duty. Mark is running out of time.
For those reporters interested in a quick backgrounding of Mark Rippee’s story, please check my blog, noonecaresaboutcrazypeople.com. You will find entries about him here, here, here, and here.
You may also review the Facebook thread Mark of Vacaville, kept by Mark’s sister Catherine Hanson.
James Mark Rippee – Photo Courtesy Linda Privette 
Mark Rippee 
Mark Rippee 
Mark Rippee 
Mark Rippee. Photo Courtesy CJ Hanson.
