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South Florida Sun-Sentinel

December 4, 2002

Reprinted with permission of the author. All rights reserved.

LETTER
Reform Baker Act to help mentally ill

Mary T. Zdanowicz, Executive Director, Treatment Advocacy Center, Arlington, VA

While there are many benefits to the Broward County Mental Health Court ("Faith, mother, court put man back on right track," "Justice that works -- mentally ill defendants avoid the revolving door of jail, get their lives back on track through mental health court's assistance"; "Well-meaning court can't rescue everyone," Nov. 24) the question still remains: Why are so many people with untreated mental illness in the criminal justice system in the first place?

One reason is that, for nearly half of all people with severe mental illnesses, the illness renders them incapable of making rational treatment decisions. In medical terms, they have anosognosia, an impairment of the brain that prevents them from realizing that they need treatment. They do not believe that they are ill, so they refuse needed medication.

For this small, but significant population, the law needs to allow court-ordered community-based treatment, which Florida's Baker Act does not. The Baker Act must be reformed to get people into treatment before they reach the criminal justice system and stop the revolving door at jails.

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