“Treatment Not Jail offers the possibility of mental health treatment courts for all justice-involved New Yorkers and improves upon the prevailing model of drug courts.”
Imagine that you are among the 1 in 5 people in New York who have mental health and substance use challenges that have rarely been addressed because you were born into a world of systemic injustice, poverty and lack of access to care.
Now imagine you are charged with a crime, unaffordable bail is set and you are jailed in squalid conditions without meaningful mental health care. Because there is no law creating mental health courts for all New Yorkers, you face months or years in the hell of incarceration and endure subpar treatment in a traumatizing environment that exacerbates your vulnerabilities.
Strikingly, New York currently incarcerates 40,000 people, almost half of whom are diagnosed with a mental health disorder. New York incarcerates more people with mental illness than it treats in hospitals.
Imagine another scenario where The Treatment Not Jail Act is in effect. This law recognizes that justice-involved New Yorkers have experienced racial and economic injustice, unstable housing, and insufficient healthcare and education. Now your humanity is recognized and you are offered community-based treatment with the chance to emerge from jail without a criminal conviction. This will allow you to procure housing,...
Maui Police Chief John Pelletier’s claims that Mayor Richard Bissen is under criminal investigation are false allegations “in service of a political fight,” Maui County Prosecuting Attorney Andrew ...