Mental Health Court - not much fun today

Judge Charles P. Weech got a work-out today in this afternoon's Mental Health Court, and it didn't look like he was having much fun. In two years of observing cases in that public court room, today I saw the heaviest load of defendants who were not doing well in the program.

This speciality court operates differently than the criminal courts. Judge Weech really cares about the defendants whose cases are there. They have a lot at risk, and he wants them to succeed in the program. Success and graduation from the program means that charges are nolle prossed.

He stressed several times that defendants are in this court voluntarily. They applied to have their cases transferred to the Mental Health Court. The strict program was explained to them. The program includes a rigorous combination of mental health treatment, medication, alcohol and drug screens, AA, group and individual therapy, credit counseling, employment counseling and more.

The Mental Health Court Team is, generally, supportive of defendants and their efforts to comply.

But I'm only willing to say "generally", because I have observed times when they are not.

While the staff cannot work the program for their clients (the defendants), there have been times when I think they forget that they are dealing with people with mental illness. And/or drug addictions or alcohol dependency.

Today I heard "Trust that an evaluation will be right." Well, I know for a fact that a recent psychological evaluation was wrong. And not just a little wrong. A LOT WRONG. Yet I have no standing in the courtroom to point out the many critical areas in which it was wrong.

Do you tell a person who is addicted to drugs not to use drugs and expect them not to? They need tremendous support in kicking the habit. Same with alcohol. Just telling a person not to drink and then believing that he won't, and jailing him if he does, is not the answer.

Would you tell a person in a wheelchair, "Walk up those stairs or I'll put in jail for a week-end?" I don't think so. So why set up a person for failure, when on another day you say you are trying to help that person succeed?

Don't misunderstand. Judge Weech did not order any wheelchair-bound person to walk up any stairs, under threat of jail.

But I heard, "Get motivated and stay focused." Well, a person with mental illness is very likely to be unable to do that. Some can; some can't. If they are failing in compliance with other steps in the program, I question whether the "team" is uncovering the cause(s) of the failure. The question is, "What happened before you drank (or shot up) or missed an appointment?" And "What happened before that?"

The Mental Health Court "team" has a lot of power. They can work a person right out of the program, sending his case(s) back to criminal court. If they are (or feel) disrespected by the defendants with whom they are working, they need to take a step back and determine whether their own actions might be provoking the defendant. They have to be tough, and they have to be tough-skinned. But they also need to demonstrate compassion and understanding.

"My way or the highway" is out of place there.

Sometimes I think that defendants in the Mental Health Court need their own advocates to help them deal with the "team".

Many are there with the Public Defender to represent them. That's a story for another day.