BRADLEY COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF) \u2013 A Bradley County judge is speaking out after the tragic death of a 27-year-old man who spent years battling severe mental illness.<\/p>\n
Judge Clay Collins says the system failed Chase Scoggins, and without significant reform and more mental health resources, others could face the same fate.<\/p>\n
In an exclusive interview with News 12, Judge Collins opened up about the moment he learned Scoggins had died alone in the woods near a Target store in Cleveland.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told the story of Chase Scoggins because when I learned that he had passed away tragically alone in the woods outside Target, it really struck a nerve with me,\u201d Judge Collins said. \u201cChase was someone that I saw in my court over and over again. I see thousands of people every year, hundreds just today even, and Chase is someone I\u2019ll remember the rest of my life because he was a sweet person. He was a kind person, but he had mental issues. He wasn\u2019t like everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Collins remembers Scoggins as kindhearted, often smiling through his struggles.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe would say, \u2018Judge, you\u2019re doing a good job,\u2019\u201d Collins recalled. \u201cAnd he\u2019d be in custody all the time, and no one ever says that when they\u2019re in custody, usually.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scoggins often spoke fondly of living in the woods, describing his unconventional lifestyle with pride.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019d say, \u2018Judge, it\u2019s awesome. I\u2019ve got no complaints. I\u2019m living in the woods, I\u2019m swinging around trees like Tarzan.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
But beneath the humor and optimism was a man in deep pain.<\/p>\n
Scoggins battled severe mental illness and self-medicated through drug use.<\/p>\n
Collins says Scoggins desperately needed help, but the system never gave him a real chance.<\/p>\n
Despite multiple arrests and attempts at rehabilitation, Scoggins remained trapped in a cycle of jail time and homelessness.<\/p>\n
Evaluations were delayed for months, and when they came, Collins says the reports often brushed over Scoggins\u2019 condition.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I learned he had died, it was like, man, the whole system failed him because I saw him dozens of times over the last two years,\u201d Collins said.<\/p>\n
The judge\u2019s post about Scoggins\u2019 death went viral, now shared more than 80,000 times and viewed by over 25 million people nationwide.<\/p>\n
Collins says the reaction shows how widespread the problem is and how many families are quietly watching loved ones fall through the cracks.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone sees a Chase Scoggins in their life, whether it\u2019s a friend or a family member,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople know this is a huge problem, and society\u2019s failing Chases.\u201d<\/p>\n
Collins says the problem extends far beyond the courtroom. It\u2019s a national crisis rooted in a lack of proper treatment centers for those struggling with mental illness.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got rid of the institutions and said we don\u2019t want to institutionalize people, but we are,\u201d Collins said. \u201cPeople like Chase are institutionalized to the streets and the jails and the prisons, and that\u2019s their lives. They\u2019re in an institution, and that\u2019s not right.\u201d<\/p>\n
He points to Chattanooga\u2019s Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute as an example of how under-resourced the system has become.<\/p>\n
The facility serves 52 counties but has only 165 beds.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust today, I saw three people who really need to be somewhere like that,\u201d Collins said. \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t have to kill somebody before you get the help you need.\u201d<\/p>\n
The judge says he plans to use his platform to push lawmakers toward funding and rebuilding mental health institutions that provide real rehabilitation, not punishment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this case with Chase and his story has really given me a platform, and I\u2019m going to be sharing as many stories like that as I can and pushing legislators and people to really take it serious,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For those wondering how they can help, Collins encourages people to get involved in their communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere in Bradley County, we have what\u2019s called the Bradley Coalition, and it\u2019s a group that helps put people in rehab,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve put 150 people in rehabs just this year. They need funding, and they need volunteers. It\u2019s going to take all of us to fix this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Collins says the outpouring of support gives him hope that Scoggins\u2019 life and death will lead to real change.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hopeful for the first time in a long time that something is going to come from this,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have the impetus to do it, and we have to do it for Chase and for the millions of people in America that are like him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Judge Collins says he\u2019s no longer content to stay silent.<\/p>\n
After a decade on the bench, he believes it\u2019s time to speak up for those who can\u2019t speak for themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a judge, I\u2019m supposed to kind of be quiet and judicial, and I\u2019ve been that way for the last 10 years,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I\u2019m not going to do it anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Click here<\/a> to read Judge Clay Collins\u2019 full media statement.\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tCategories: Featured<\/a>, Local News<\/a>\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tTags: asylums<\/a>, Bradley County<\/a>, Bradley County Court<\/a>, Bradley County Criminal Court<\/a>, Bradley County Judicial Complex<\/a>, Clay Collins<\/a>, Criminal Court<\/a>, exclusive interview<\/a>, health system<\/a>, institution<\/a>, Judge<\/a>, Judge Clay Collins<\/a>, Local News<\/a>, mental health resources<\/a>, mental health system<\/a>, Mental Hospital<\/a>, mental institutions<\/a>, system<\/a>\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BRADLEY COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF) \u2013 A Bradley County judge is speaking out after the tragic death of a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187480,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[52993,82521,82522,82523,82524,82525,82526,82527,102,40605,82528,10151,82529,1382,1906,82530,82531,82532,82533,6623,4854,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-187479","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-asylums","9":"tag-bradley-county","10":"tag-bradley-county-court","11":"tag-bradley-county-criminal-court","12":"tag-bradley-county-judicial-complex","13":"tag-clay-collins","14":"tag-criminal-court","15":"tag-exclusive-interview","16":"tag-health","17":"tag-health-system","18":"tag-institution","19":"tag-judge","20":"tag-judge-clay-collins","21":"tag-local-news","22":"tag-mental-health","23":"tag-mental-health-resources","24":"tag-mental-health-system","25":"tag-mental-hospital","26":"tag-mental-institutions","27":"tag-mentalhealth","28":"tag-system","29":"tag-uk","30":"tag-united-kingdom","31":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}