I believe that the biggest legal liability in corrections today is the assessment, treatment, and management of those with mental illness. At this point in time, the legal system seems to be swamped with court cases regarding law enforcement and correctional facilities versus the treatment of mentally ill persons. In a 2006 Justice Department analysis, it was concluded that 1.2 million people that are in either state, local or federal custody reported some kind of mental health problem. What is staggering about the 1.2 million, is that it is now just a drop in the bucket, 9 years later.
“The criminal justice system; from police departments and jails, to courthouses and prisons, they has become the de facto caretakers for the mentally ill and …show more content…
U.S 1960, and again in Drope v. Missouri 1975; but also while housed within the correctional facilities. Many of the court cases dealing with the mental illness and the convicted person primarily deals with the treatment of the patient. There are also the court cases that cover the medical care, and the dispensing of necessary drugs. A significant United States Supreme Court case that deals with dispensing antipsychotic drugs to an inmate who is found to be dangerous to themselves or others is Washington v. Harper, 494 U.S. 210 (1990). This case was consequential in limiting a prisoners’ right to refuse treatment; this ruling meant that the needs of the institution takes precedence over the needs of the prisoners’ rights. To use this course of treatment, there also has to be a formal institutional hearing, and the prisoner has to be found a danger to self or others, diagnosed with a serious mental illness, and the mental health care professional must be able to claim that the medication prescribed is solely in the prisoner’s best interest. Riggins v. Nevada 1992; altered the wording a bit, by adding “less restrictive alternative” language which in turn requires the State to document that there are no behavioral, environmental, or other measures available that will be as equally effective as the
“The criminal justice system; from police departments and jails, to courthouses and prisons, they has become the de facto caretakers for the mentally ill and …show more content…
U.S 1960, and again in Drope v. Missouri 1975; but also while housed within the correctional facilities. Many of the court cases dealing with the mental illness and the convicted person primarily deals with the treatment of the patient. There are also the court cases that cover the medical care, and the dispensing of necessary drugs. A significant United States Supreme Court case that deals with dispensing antipsychotic drugs to an inmate who is found to be dangerous to themselves or others is Washington v. Harper, 494 U.S. 210 (1990). This case was consequential in limiting a prisoners’ right to refuse treatment; this ruling meant that the needs of the institution takes precedence over the needs of the prisoners’ rights. To use this course of treatment, there also has to be a formal institutional hearing, and the prisoner has to be found a danger to self or others, diagnosed with a serious mental illness, and the mental health care professional must be able to claim that the medication prescribed is solely in the prisoner’s best interest. Riggins v. Nevada 1992; altered the wording a bit, by adding “less restrictive alternative” language which in turn requires the State to document that there are no behavioral, environmental, or other measures available that will be as equally effective as the