At a recent meeting of the Columbian Lawyers Association of Brooklyn, Justice Matthew D’Emic, the administrative judge of the Kings County Supreme Court, Criminal Term, addressed the intersection of mental illness and the law.
In his speech titled “The New York State Judicial Task Force on Mental Illness: Elimination of Bias, Inequity and Exclusion in our Courts’ Response to Mental Illness,” delivered at Gargiulo’s Restaurant in Coney Island on Wednesday, Feb. 7, Judge D’Emic outlined the role of the National Judicial Task Force in addressing the challenges posed by mental illness in the criminal justice system.
Justice D’Emic, a respected figure in the legal community and an annual speaker at the association, emphasized the Task Force’s mission to tackle what he described as a crisis contributing significantly to jail and prison populations.
He cited Dr. June Tagney, Ph.D., highlighting the country’s failure to effectively address mental health issues, leading to many individuals with treatable illnesses being caught in the criminal justice system instead of receiving appropriate mental health treatment.
The task force’s recommendations focus on two key areas.
First, the deflection and diversion to treatment, advocating for courts to explore behavioral health deflection and diversion options in their communities to facilitate early treatment access.
Second, the reform of the competency to stand trial system, suggesting that the competency process should be reserved for those charged with serious crimes, with others diverted to treatment. This includes the consideration of competency dockets to enhance access to diversion and outpatient restoration to competency, alongside active case management to prevent individuals from languishing in jail.
Justice D’Emic’s stressed a growing recognition within the legal community of the need for a more nuanced approach to mental illness in the criminal justice system, with the aim to shift the focus from incarceration to treatment and rehabilitation.
