Vern Pierson, District Attorney of El Dorado County, California, has this commentary in CalMatters.
Ronald Reagan emptied the psychiatric hospitals and Jerry Brown emptied the prisons, or so some people say. Although neither statement is completely true, there are elements of harsh reality in both. And they are connected.
Reagan and Brown, two of the most consequential governors ever in California, led the state during two of the most well intended but poorly executed movements in this state's history.
The first was the de-institutionalization of the mentally ill starting in the 1960's. The movement, started in Europe, was supported by President Kennedy and ultimately complicated by a U.S. Supreme Court opinion and civil liberty concerns over forced treatment.
The second in recent years was fueled by concerns about perceived mass incarceration, and the reality that our jails and prisons had become the de facto mental facilities.
The result: fewer inmates, and significant increases in homelessness and untreated mental illness.
I have witnessed this as a county prosecutor, deputy attorney general and El Dorado County District Attorney. As someone with more than 27 years in the pursuit of justice, I worry for the people on the streets, and for the future victims of crime.
The problem is nationwide, not limited to California. Yet the formerly golden state tends to be a trend setter, and it is worthwhile for folks elsewhere to pay attention to the consequences of what is happening here.
Pierson notes that the reduction in prison population, changes in mental health laws, and increases in homelessness are all related.
As the jails and prisons emptied, homelessness jumped. Unlike the rest of the U.S. where homelessness has been relatively flat, California's homelessness spiked in 2015. Now, approximately a quarter of all people experiencing homelessness in this country reside in California.
And while there are fewer inmates, the prevalence and severity of the mental illness among prisoners has increased. Astonishingly, in just four years, the number of people in California who were deemed incompetent to stand trial has increased by 60 percent, straining courts and state hospitals.
Somehow, we must find a middle ground between incarceration, and untreated, unsupervised and at-risk mentally ill people.Senate Bill 1045 became law Jan. 1, and authorizes pilot programs to create housing conservatorships for people with serious mental health illness and substance use disorders who do not qualify for Lanterman-Petris-Short Act conservatorship in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco.
This is a modest step, but it could help insure treatment for people with mental disorders outside the criminal justice system. Community based treatment before extreme decompensation, such as has worked in Europe, could greatly reduce incarceration and homelessness.
Ultimately, isn't it time to reevaluate our legal perspective that essentially determined that the mind was like a light switch, where a person is either perfectly sane or an immediate threat to him- or herself and others?
That last point is one that lies at the bottom of many legal problems. I have said that the law too often demands digital answers to analog questions. The metaphor fits, but it is probably too techie for most people. The difference between an on-off light switch and a variable dimmer may be more broadly understood.
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