EDITORIAL: Mentally ill need help, not jail

Jan. 17--The Sun Sentinel's eye-opening investigation of the failure of Broward County's mental health court left us feeling shame at the system and anger at what often happens to those who need help.

Instead of getting needed treatment for the mentally ill, "Trapped: The Crime of Mental Illness" shows Broward's mental health court is more adept at punishing them.

Mentally ill people charged with minor felonies can spend six times longer in the criminal justice system than those in regular court. Though not healthy enough to stand trial, prosecutors keep these folks churning through the system, often for small crimes.

The six-month investigation offers a harrowing evaluation of the 12-year-old mental health court, which was created to try to treat mentally ill defendants, while still holding them accountable for their alleged crimes.

On its first key goal, the system has fallen miserably short.

The question now is, what will be done to fix it?

The Broward State Attorney's Office says it's already started to change how it handles mentally ill suspects -- but not before being prodded by public defenders and mental health advocates, along with questions from the Sun Sentinel's investigative team.

The changes aim to get mentally ill defendants out of courtrooms and jails, and into the treatment programs they need. Many are modeled on an approach started eight years ago in Miami-Dade County, which aims to treat -- rather than prosecute -- mentally ill defendants.

According to judges and advocates, real change won't happen until prosecutors show a greater willingness to drop charges. That change must start at the top -- with historically rigid Broward State Attorney Mike Satz, whose office rarely drops lower-level felony charges against people more sick than criminal.

"Change is coming, but it's not coming because of enlightenment," Broward Public Defender Howard Finkelstein told us. "There is a slight change in attitude and tone because the paper banged the State Attorney's Office head."

Finkelstein was once a big advocate for the felony mental health court. Now he's a critic of its performance and critical of Satz.

One example: Prosecutors pursued a felony robbery charge against Katherine Nelson, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia. When she was 20 years old, Nelson says voices told her to snatch a woman's purse on a Broward bus. She quickly dropped the purse.

A judge pressed prosecutors to drop the 2009 case, but the State Attorney's Office refused until November -- after the Sun Sentinel asked about it.

Judge Ari Porth had urged prosecutor Robert Prince to get the victim's consent for dropping the charge. Prince reported he couldn't reach her. A Sun Sentinel reporter did.

"Let it go," said Charlene Rose, the victim, of Lauderdale Lakes. "It was just a little handbag."

After facing reporters' questions for months, the State Attorney's Office recently launched a program to send some mentally ill suspects -- who face minor felony charges -- into residential treatment programs, instead.

Chief Assistant State Attorney Jeff Marcus insists the office is trying to help people who need it, while still performing its primary function of prosecuting criminals.

"Mike [Satz] has a long history of advocating for funding for societal problems," Marcus said.

We've got to say, though, that we haven't heard from Satz on the need for funding. We'd contrast that with the leadership shown by Finkelstein, who when he sees a problem, is not shy about calling it to the public's attention.

In an op-ed for the Sun Sentinel last week, Satz noted that the Broward Behavioral Health Coalition is funding a new pilot diversion program. Up to 60 people with severe mental illness will be able to get treatment and not be charged with a crime. Though the number is small, it's a good start. Satz said his office now has a place to divert third-degree felony offenders with mental health issues.

Miami-Dade's model has been praised nationally. There, Judge Steve Leifman pushed Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle to start a felony diversion program in 2008, and she responded in a big way. In eight years, nearly 1,000 mentally ill people have been sent to treatment instead of jail.

Leifman said the program has saved Miami-Dade more than $3.5 million on jail costs.

"You need a state attorney," Leifman said, "willing to drop some charges."

Finkelstein says more changes are needed.

For example, if a mentally ill person remains incompetent for five years, state law says felony charges must be dropped. He'd like to see the threshold dropped to two years. Satz has said he could support dropping the charges in three years.

"We need to look at the mentally ill as sick people," Finkelstein said. "Some are violent, but the large majority are scared to death about everything.

"We have to stop using the criminal justice system on them, except in extraordinary cases."

We heartily agree.

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