As I have said before, I have a soft spot for my competency clients. Others have also posted recently on this subject, and I feel it is one that must be dealt with if, for no other reason, very few people seem to understand or care about it.
An example:
I had my first competency hearings in front of a brand-new judge yesterday. It was appalling! It was clear within minutes that not only had she not bothered to educate herself about how these types of cases are to proceed through the court system, she would not listen to me as I attempted to explain how they are supposed to work. And I wasn't using my own words, I was reading the statute book! "If a client is determined incompetent, charged with a felony, and not at that time determined dangerous, the case must be dismissed." Misdemeanors are dismissed on a finding of incompetence, period, regardless of supposed dangerousness. Instead, she found all my clients incompetent and set them all (including the misdemeanors) 3 weeks from now for "dangerousness hearings" (no such things exist in New Mexico), keeping the clients in jail in the meantime. This, of course, put them outside the statutory timelimits. I did have one client out of jail, and I was interrogated as to why he was out. He had bonded out on 2 misdemeanors and was released without bail on the felony. The judge was distressed that he was out of jail because, she said, we can't have incompetent people running around, she started to say, "when they are dangerous" and changed it to, "when they might be dangerous."
What are we, back in the 19th century, a time when the mentally ill were greatly feared and locked up for no reason other than a few chemical imbalances in their brains? Hasn't society progressed beyond that point?
I finally figured out what this judge's deal is when, after the hearings, she started talking about setting up a mental health court. I know these exist in other places around the state. And I generally think them to be an excellent idea. However, in order for them to work, there must be services in the community for the mentally ill. For what good is the court checking to ensure that someone is taking their medication when the person is homeless and unemployed and have no means by which to obtain either housing or an income and no one to help them get to a doctor and become stabilized on their meds? Upon voicing my views about this with the judge, she was not swayed, or even interested. So, if she has her way, we will soon have a court program that punishes the mentally ill for not remaining on their meds when they have no means to do so, and she will have set up an ineffectual program that will look good to her political higher-ups and help her climb the political ladder because she will have single-handedly gotten those "crazies" off the streets.
I hate politics. Especially when those sacrificed to it have no choice in the matter.
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4 comments:
We have a treatment court here. Two of the main requirements is that the person is receiving disability and has a stable place to live.
It is appalling how we treat fellow citizens with mental health conditions.
Agreed. It may be easier and more politically convenient to lock them up and ignore the fact that they exist at all, but this is far from just or even humane.
Egad. This reminds me of how state legislators make up laws concerning teachers because they think it'll solve all the problems of bad education in SC, and we (who have to implement them) aren't consulted as to how it will actually affect the situation. Sounds like the judge in question needs to read law. Isn't there anyone to whom you guys can go and say 'The judge didn't follow the law'?
Yes, we can go to the court of appeals, but only with a "final order," i.e. when the case is concluded. I have informed my boss of what is going on, and I'm hoping he will be able to get through to her, possibly with the help of the DA (his counterpart in the prosecutor's office). If this doesn't work, we can see if the Chief District Judge can talk with her. He knows how it's supposed to work. I do hold out hope that with some education from her collegues she may learn.
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