Introduction
The number of mentally ill offenders in American jails continues to grow every year. The Bureau of Justice estimates that approximately 16% of incarcerated persons have been diagnosed with active symptoms of severe mental illness, and about 75% of these people have related drugs and alcohol use disorder ("Mental Health and Criminal Justice", 2000). The presence of mentally ill defendants in the criminal justice system has significant costs on the system and harm on these defendants. It is almost impossible to care for these prison populations; thus, the mental health courts system advocates for the removal of mentally ill ...
