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Rapper DMX Moved to Prison's Mental Health Unit

By Laura Strachan, Esq. on January 05, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Earl Simmons, better known as the rapper DMX, is serving time in an Arizona prison for cocaine-related probation violation. DMX has been moved to the mental health unit of the prison over concerns of a potential mental health condition, which the judge that ruled on his felony probation violation believes is causing his law-breaking behavior.

More specifically, the judge felt that DMX had an "undiagnosed mental condition." While in the mental health unit, DMX will be detoxing and will not be able to see any outside visitors for thirty days, according to MTV News. The extent of mental testing or evaluation is not public knowledge at this point.

Issues with mental health and the criminal justice system can become complicated, fast. There is a fine line between punishing an individual for criminal behavior and punishing criminal behavior that one cannot control. The latter is what some believe is at play when it comes to DMX.

Whether a mental condition is the result of a law-breaking life or the reason for breaking the law may take a very long time to figure out but hopefully DMX's sting in the mental health unit of the prison will help to identify a problem and come to a path for recovery.

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