New Jersey advances bill that would keep people with MI out of court system

Abstract

New Jersey legislators advanced a bill last month that would divert nonviolent criminal offenders from the court system into community‐based mental health treatment, the New Jersey Monitor reported on Sept. 30. Supporters say more than one quarter of people now incarcerated have mental health disorders. Connecting them with medical treatment instead of jailing them would save the state money while also reducing recidivism by better addressing their needs, said Adam Sagot, a psychiatrist with Hackensack Meridian Health. “We are in an epidemic of mental health crises,” said Sagot, testifying in support of the bill before the New Jersey state Assembly's judiciary committee. “Anything we can do right now to start providing treatment to those individuals on as broad a scope as possible is in everyone's best interest,” he said. Assemblyman Robert Auth (R‐Bergen) said the state should first “test the waters” in a few counties to gauge whether such a concept would work before mandating it statewide. He also said he worried about not confining people “who may be borderline not quite there … and some other innocent victim gets killed or molested or whatever.” But Assemblyman Raj Mukherji (D‐Hudson), who chairs the committee and sponsored the bill with Assemblywoman Annette Quijano (D‐Union), said only people with diagnosed or suspected mental illnesses who commit nonviolent disorderly persons offenses or third‐ or fourth‐degree crimes would be referred for diversion.