Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2018
Abstract
This paper is a chapter that will appear in REFORMING CRIMINAL JUSTICE: A REPORT OF THE ACADEMY FOR JUSTICE BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN SCHOLARSHIP AND REFORM (Erik Luna ed., Academy for Justice 2018). The criminal law treats some people with severe mental disorders doctrinally and practically differently at virtually every stage of the criminal justice process, beginning with potential incompetence to stand trial and ending with the question of competence to be executed, and such people have special needs when they are in the system. This chapter begins by exploring the fundamental mental health information necessary to make informed judgements about how the criminal justice system should respond to this population, including discussion of the causal relation between mental disorder and criminal behavior. The next section addresses the prevalence of mental disorders in jail and prisons and the mental health needs of mentally disabled inmates. The last section addresses criminal mental health law doctrines. Throughout, the chapter considers how changes could promote greater justice and humanity in the law’s treatment of criminal offenders who suffer from mental disorders.
Keywords
Criminal law and procedure, psychiatry, law enforcement, corrections, sentencing, incarceration, prisoners, treatment, diagnosis, competence, responsibility, insanity, mens rea, mitigation, commitment, American Bar Association Criminal Justice Mental Health Standards
Publication Title
Reforming Criminal Justice: A Report of the Academy for Justice Bridging the Gap Between Scholarship and Reform
Repository Citation
Morse, Stephen J., "Mental Disorder and Criminal Justice" (2018). All Faculty Scholarship. 1751.
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_scholarship/1751
Included in
Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms Commons, Criminal Law Commons, Criminal Procedure Commons, Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons, Law and Psychology Commons, Law Enforcement and Corrections Commons, Medical Jurisprudence Commons, Mental Disorders Commons, Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation Commons, Psychiatric and Mental Health Commons, Psychiatry Commons, Public Law and Legal Theory Commons
Publication Citation
In REFORMING CRIMINAL JUSTICE: A REPORT OF THE ACADEMY FOR JUSTICE BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN SCHOLARSHIP AND REFORM (Erik Luna ed., Academy for Justice 2018)