[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 57 (Monday, April 20, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2266-S2267]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              COMPREHENSIVE JUSTICE AND MENTAL HEALTH ACT

  Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, I am proud to be an original cosponsor of 
legislation offered by Senators Cornyn and Franken, the Comprehensive 
Justice and Mental Health Act. This critical piece of bipartisan 
legislation would promote alternatives to incarceration by helping 
identify and treat Americans suffering from mental illness. For far too 
long our criminal justice system has been a substitute for a mental 
health system. That practice is costly, wastes limited resources, and 
is contrary to evidence-based practices proven to make our communities 
safer. I thank Senators Cornyn and Franken for their hard work on this 
important criminal justice reform bill.
  Today, law enforcement is ill-equipped and not properly trained to 
deal with individuals suffering from severe mental disorders whose 
conditions can cause them to commit crimes. The mentally ill are too 
often treated as common criminals and are not given access to the 
critical treatment they need.
  The Comprehensive Justice and Mental Health Act would save taxpayers' 
money and effectively use limited resources by ensuring our prisons 
contain violent offenders as opposed to those who suffer from mental 
illnesses. When more than four of five inmates with a mental illness 
are not treated in jail, we waste resources by incarcerating them. This 
bill would make the public safer and save taxpayers' money by ensuring 
that we continue to support vital programs, such as mental health 
courts, veterans' courts, and crisis intervention teams.
  The bill would also improve public safety. Persons with complicated 
psychiatric problems that are thrown in jail can have their mental 
state deteriorate even further. If incarcerated without treatment, some 
mental illnesses can lead people to be a danger to the public once 
released. But with proper treatment, they can lead ordinary, law-
abiding lives even absent incarceration.
  The bill would help to reduce jail overcrowding caused by warehousing 
people for low-level crimes, which often includes the mentally ill. For 
example, from 2009 to 2013 in New York City, about 400 people were sent 
to jail on at least 18 occasions each. That amounts to more than 10,000 
jail admissions and 300,000 days in jail. In Chicago, from 2007 to 
2011, 21 percent of the people sent to jails accounted for 50 percent 
of jail admissions. Because a significant number of people in jail are 
mentally ill, reducing recidivism for this population is critical. By 
supporting state and local efforts to identify and direct them to the 
appropriate mental health services, this bill would reduce recidivism 
and, in turn, help reduce jail over-crowding.
  The bill would also encourage the development of curricula on mental 
health conditions for police academies

[[Page S2267]]

and orientations. Finally, the legislation would include new grant 
accountability measures and emphasize the implantation of evidence-
based practices.
  It is time we address mental illness in our country through 
treatment, not incarceration. Passing this common-sense bill would 
reduce recidivism, save taxpayer money, and make our communities safer. 
That is why I support this bill and I urge its speedy passage.

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