Getting it right: new mental health court in San Francisco!

Special court in S.F. offers hope and help to those short on both

Heather Knight, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 13, 2007

As debate rages over how to solve San Francisco's seemingly intractable homeless problem, city leaders, academic researchers and even some formerly homeless people themselves say progress is being made every Thursday afternoon inside Department 15 at the city's gloomy Hall of Justice.

For a couple of hours each week, the courtroom fills with dozens of defendants with serious mental illnesses who have been charged with or convicted of crimes ranging from misdemeanor theft to felony assault and robbery. Almost all were homeless or on the brink of living on the streets at the time of their arrests, and many of them struggle with drug or alcohol abuse.

It sounds like a scary scene, like many city residents' worst fears gathered together in one room. But it's surprisingly touching - and according to Superior Court Judge Mary Morgan, who presides over the court, it's "the most hopeful thing happening in the criminal justice system."

On one Thursday not long ago, a bipolar man arrested in March for battery against a BART agent brought his trumpet to court on Morgan's orders and stunned the packed courtroom into silence with his rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

It's not unusual for defendants to approach the bench to present Morgan with a poem, greeting card or artwork they have crafted just for her or to show her the most recent photograph of their children.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/13/MN3ST0DCQ.DTL&hw=Homeless+court&sn=001&sc=1000

mental illness is`t a crime and it should`t be treated as such

if they'd gotten what they needed in the first place. The Director of the Coalition on Homelessness makes that point in the article and she's 100% right. (That's what I was told when trying to get treatment for my husband, "get him in the system" -- because criminalizing people works so well, right? :sarcasm:

But, I can't tell you what a step forward this is from tossing out of control people in jail, warehousing them until their hearing and tossing them back out on the street again.

You know, those humane ones that conservatives seem to think are so horrific.

because it involves so many different agencies! I can't believe they pulled it off -- especially when the Mayor wanted to used it to punish homeless people for things like public urination. Instead, the Court pushed hard to make a real program and is getting real results. :wow: