Mental Health Courts: Is There Any Hope For Mental Illness In An Outdated Criminal Justice System?

Authors

Brock Imel

Abstract

Mental health awareness is an ever-growing field of study that has garnered more attention in America after the COVID-19 pandemic. As far back as colonial America, mental illness was considered taboo in society and often reprimanded with punishable crimes. This article seeks to divulge into the history of mental health and its relation to the law, as well as how the creation of mental health courts has led to a decrease in recidivism.

This article aims to provide the reader with an understanding of the evolving field of mental health courts and provide state legislatures foundational knowledge for creating and implementing more fair and equitable methods of prosecution that do not stigmatize an already vulnerable group of individuals, those impacted by mental illness. This article will take a closer look into the creation of mental health courts, the procedural posture of mental health courts, and the efficacy of mental health courts across the country. The state of interest is Illinois, but three other states to be highlighted include Michigan, Florida, and Oklahoma. An analysis of the mental health court system in the United States is important to the legal field due to the complexity of mental illness and the ignorance the American legal field has to providing adequate care and fair proceedings to individuals with mental illness. Understanding mental health courts is integral to understanding the failings of the criminal justice system and creating a better court system to not only deter criminal behavior, but also to diagnose and improve the lives of incarcerated people that have mental disorders.

Recommended Citation

Brock Imel, Mental Health Courts: Is There Any Hope For Mental Illness In An Outdated Criminal Justice System?, 26 DePaul J. Health Care L. 1 (2025)
Available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/jhcl/vol26/iss1/1