Take 8: The Criminal Justice System and the Mentally Ill – Advocacy and Collaboration

By: Dr. Gaby Cora

Last week, a man from New Mexico was awarded twenty-two million dollars after he was found to have spent an extreme amount of time, and most of it in solitary confinement, after a DUI (Drinking Under the Influence). The man had a history of depression and mental illness, so the law enforcement officials at the jail feared he would hurt himself.

The lack of understanding of mental illness and particularly as people with mental illness commit a crime and are forced into the justice system, continues to pose a challenge for us all.

In my previous life as an ER doctor at DC General Hospital, I had the privilege to work with the under-served and several systems including St. Elizabeths’ Hospital, DC Jail, and the Forensic Hospital at John Howard Pavillion. During this time, it was everyday practice to evaluate people for voluntary or involuntary hospitalization, if they were a danger to themselves or others. Doctors would evaluate people after they committed a crime and would decide whether an underlying mental illness was the culprit behind the crime. We would determine whether or not someone who had travelled thousands of miles to visit the president of the United States posed a risk to the president’s safety and well-being. To do this, we would interact with a wide range of professionals, including: police officers, US marshalls, Secret Service agents, and more.

Watch the interview with Judge Steve Leifman, an Associated Administrative Judge of the Miami-Dade County Courts, and see the man behind the judge who has done so much to help those in need of mental health services as well as ensure that those who have committed a crime are judged within the proper channel.

Watch the full show with never-shown clips on Friday at http://www.DrGabyCora.tv

Posted by Dr. Gaby Corá in Dr. Gaby's Take: TV Show.