In a previous article we told you about Michigan’s Mental Health Court, and the amazing difference it is positioned to have on the lives of people around the state, But how many lives exactly, you may wonder. And just what kind of a difference?
Thus far, 161 people have successfully graduated from Judge Barkey’s Court in Genesee County, which is a heartening number indeed. And a recent outcome evaluation showed that this program helps to lower the incidence and intensity of medical treatments administered by local Community Mental Health Centers.
And lastly, (and this is a big one) recidivism rates were also lowered. What does that mean? Recidivism is a person’s relapse into criminal behavior, usually after they have received some kind of intervention or penalty. In fact, current recidivism rates for program graduates is only 6.3%, which is amazing!
So, if this works so well, why don’t we have more mental health courts available?
Is mental illness an excuse to commit crime without penalties?
Well, for starters, it isn’t the traditional approach to legal intervention. And truth be told, some people struggle with this concept. They feel that the old adage, “you do the crime, you do the time” should apply to everyone. And that by not convicting the mentally ill after they have committed a crime, is tantamount to letting them “get away with it”. As if their mental illness is an excuse to commit crime without penalties.
This is understandable, especially for those who are the victims of these crimes. Or the loved ones of victims. One of the few sources of peace for a crime victim, is seeing that the person who hurt them is convicted and made to pay the price for their actions. But when the “criminal” is a mentally ill person, and the system chooses to rehabilitate them instead of imprisoning, it can feel like a denial of justice for the victim and their loved ones.
We understand how hard this can be. But the reality is that, for most people who are living with a chronic mental illnesses, they simply cannot be processed through the justice system in the same way as a mentally healthy person. It would be like penalizing someone without legs for not completing a marathon. Or sending someone with severe dyslexia to prison for not doing well in a reading competition.
And if you think about it, sending a person struggling with a debilitating mental illness to prison will not solve the problem. It will not heal their mind, or teach them good coping skills, or help them to make better choices in the future. It will do more damage. And when they get out, they will be more likely to make poor choices again. Which will only perpetuate the cycle.
So while it can be very hard to accept for the victims of crimes, and we really do understand that, in the big picture it is the only real solution to the problem.