The Judge's Bench: Lakewood Mental Health Court

Mental illness is not an easy topic to discuss, but it has an impact on all of our lives. Sometimes directly, through a family member, friend or co-worker. Other times, you may experience it as a victim, when a person with mental illness commits a criminal offense such as theft, trespass or criminal damage.

Mental illness is a condition that impacts a person’s thinking, feeling or mood and may affect the person’s ability to relate to others and function on a daily basis, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

Mental illness is a general topic that covers a wide range of disorders, including bipolar, depression, schizophrenia, post traumatic stress disorder and attention deficit disorders. Some can be easily treated while others are more severe. While each disorder may affect a defendant’s thought process, they are distinct disorders with specific types of treatment.

Sometimes mental illness is combined with alcohol or drug abuse or addiction. These cases, called dual diagnosis disorders, are more complicated because the conditions and symptoms overlap. While both issues need to be addressed, they require different treatment.

As a judge, I’m sometimes confronted with mentally ill defendants who come before me. When a person with mental illness commits an offense, the court must consider not only the extent the disorder had on the defendant, but also the need to address the issue to avoid future misconduct. The court must also consider and protect the victim, sometimes by ordering the defendant to stay away from the victim or restitution for damage caused by the defendant.

While mental illness is a problem for every court, there was insufficient volume for a single court to maintain its own program. As a result, in 2003, the Lakewood Court, along with the Cleveland and Shaker Heights Courts, formed the Mental Health Court Initiative as a pilot project to address mental health with misdemeanor offenses. Through the collective efforts of these judges, mental health professionals and police departments, uniform screening procedures and other standardized practices were established to co-ordinate mental health awareness and treatment. Other municipal courts later joined in and the program is now in place throughout Cuyahoga County.

The primary goal of a court in sentencing is the safety of the community. Jail is an oversimplified answer that only warehouses the defendant for a short time with misdemeanor offenses. Treatment, including counseling, medication and family support, and court supervision require extensive time and involvement of court staff and attorneys certified in this specialized area, but is more productive in the long run.

Rather than jail, when a defendant is responsive to treatment, it: 

1. addresses the mental health issues,

2. creates a plan to avoid future criminal offenses, and

3. is a less costly alternative.

Many ongoing behavior issues may be the undetected result of mental illness. Although some of the cases are relatively minor in nature, the mental condition of the defendant poses a risk of harm that must be addressed regardless of the seriousness of the offense.

With court ordered evaluations, early identification of mental health issues means screening and establishing or reconnecting with mental health services with swift referral for commitment, medication or other treatment. The Lakewood Court has developed working relationships with Recovery Resources and other mental health agencies that provide court liaisons who are critical to the success of the program.

The efficiency of the program reduces jail costs by transferring the defendant from the Lakewood jail to a treatment facility or home with monitoring. It also provides the defendant with medication and other treatment during the evaluation process. With this program, not only can the illness be addressed, but also future criminal incidents may be reduced.

Judicial decisions require more than just knowledge of the law. They involve fairness, compassion and a wide knowledge of the behaviors that may affect the conduct of a defendant. Over the years I have done extensive research on the cause, conditions and treatment of mental illness. As a judge I have trained attorneys to be certified for the mental health court. I am proud to have the Lakewood Court be on the forefront of the Mental Health Initiative, and am proud of the benefit this program has provided the Lakewood Community.

Patrick Carroll

Judge Patrick Carroll

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Volume 11, Issue 15, Posted 4:30 PM, 07.21.2015