Mental Health and Criminal Justice: Identifying Needs

The Vera Institute of Justice recently released a report examining the mental health needs of those in the Washington DC criminal justice system. Given the lack of mental health services in New Orleans, the relationship between mental health and homelessness, crime and repeat offending, and a growing interest in establishing a mental health municipal court (based on personal communication I know Judge Sens is interested), this report might have something useful to offer this city. I pasted some of the key findings from the report below, and a podcast with one of the key researchers (Richard G. Dudley).  I also created a link to the full report and summary fact sheet.  This might also interest some other local bloggers.  I know my pal Noitsjustme will find this interesting.

Here's a link to the full report: Closing the Gap: Using Criminal Justice and Public Health Data to Improve the Identification of Mental Illness

Here's a link to the summary Fact Sheet.

Some of the basic findings are below the fold.

Distractions: Casey Anthony and Episodic Crime News

So, everyone's been talking lately about the Casey Anthony case.  I don't know much at all about this case, nor do I care.  I actually see stories like this as distractions.  Sociologists who study crime in the media (especially the news) note that most crime reports focus on the actual event, such as the specific crime, victims, some demographic--"there were shots fired at x street at y time of the night, one victim taken to the hospital").  Others, though many fewer, might focus on the court case, and the specifics of the everyday activities within the court room.