Janet Hays, President of Healing Minds NOLA, brought us great news that was reported in this blog on August 2, 2022. The Louisiana legislature passed a law that was put into effect on August 1, 2022, that would recognize that a person may need treatment for Serious Mental Illness (SMI) based upon the “deteriorative nature of the illness itself, not just behavior.” This is wonderful. We do not have to wait anymore for the patient to kill himself or someone else to treat the illness – at least in Louisiana. Go Janet!

Nevertheless, there is more to do in both illness and criminal justice reform. This from my book In the Matter of Edwin Potter: Mental Illness and Criminal Justice Reform:

“The typical prison inmate does not have the skills necessary to succeed in accepted society. That is the problem. What do we do? We need to teach them: reading, writing, arithmetic, social skills, job skills, language skills. They need mentors, housing, help with their substance abuse, and a change in the laws that keep them from taking part in society. The mentally ill have a different set of problems that cannot be fixed by throwing them into prison. Schizophrenia, for example, is a neurological problem, a spectrum illness much like autism. They don’t throw people with autism into prison as medical treatment. Why those with schizophrenia? Having mental illness is not a crime any more than having heart disease or diabetes are crimes. It needs medical research.”

In New York City, John Jay College Institute of Justice and Opportunity is addressing these issues and finding they work. 

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“In all honesty, I didn’t really have high expectations of this book at first glance. It seemed like the typical Non-fiction inspired books that would make no sense of some sort. But the moment I started reading it, the more I realized that it is more than just that.

 “This book is groundbreaking in its sense. It opens up our hearts and minds as to what mental disorder is all about. The insights that are brought about by this book are very helpful and educational. The author's way of engaging the readers into each life event of Edwin Potter is mesmerizing.” 

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