An opinion piece published in today's edition of The Chronicle Herald:
By Marilla Stephenson [pictured]
THE TORIES MAY have promised it, the NDP may have delivered it and the Liberals may have backed it. But credit for this week’s announcement that Nova Scotia will finally establish a mental health court goes to the many justice system officials who have pushed for years, and then finally said enough is enough.
Remember the story of Jean Roberts, the 70-year-old Dartmouth woman who ended up in court for setting fire to her own apartment?
She was unable to properly care for herself, could not be cared for in a traditional nursing home and found herself in trouble with the law. She had been in and out of jail over an 18-month period after what her family described as a slow slide into dementia and mental health problems.
Sadly, during a court appearance, Roberts had asked to be returned to jail because she had nowhere else to go. But is jail really the right place for people like Jean Roberts?
In 2006, Judge Bill MacDonald said no, it was not. After releasing her from custody on a series of relatively minor charges, he ordered sheriff’s deputies to delivery her to the Health Department and to leave her in their care.
"Why should the criminal justice system have to come up with all the options?" the judge asked at the time.
"I don’t want to take the responsibility of putting her out in the parking lot. There needs to be a facility in our society to deal with people like Jean."
Since then, the previous Tory government did move to establish a transition shelter for people with mental health problems, though with just a handful of beds I doubt it is able to accommodate the needs that exist. Still, it was a start.
More recently, Nova Scotians have heard the disturbing testimony at the inquiry into the death of Howard Hyde, the Dartmouth man who died in custody in 2007 after police shocked him with a stun gun.
He suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, but was not sent for a mental health assessment as one doctor had requested after he had been taken into custody on a domestic assault charge.
But the long-promised mental health court has been slower to materialize.
The Tories had finally promised to have it in place April 1 of this year, but a delay was soon announced. Summer or fall was the new target. Of course, an election and a change in government soon followed.
Finally this week, Justice Minister Ross Landry, under the new NDP government, announced that it will open in Dartmouth in November.
Once a week — guess who? — Judge Bill MacDonald will hear cases that are recommended by a provincial mental health court team.
They will be diverted from the regular provincial court case stream, but will not include more serious crimes such as murder or sexual assault.
Landry says the new court will help to balance public protection requirements and the needs of those who suffer from mental illness and find themselves in trouble with the law.
"It ensures public safety, and at the same time ensures the accused’s health needs are met," said Landry.
The court will not hold regular trials. Those who appear in the mental health court will have given either an admission of guilt prior to a regular trial, or have received a guilty verdict in a regular court.
The intent will be to work out treatment options, and in some cases, charges could be withdrawn once treatment is complete, says Landry.
With the closures in past years of mental health residential facilities, more people have found themselves without the care options they need.
For some folks, this had led to life on the streets and an absence of needed medications. Landing in court on charges, followed by jail, should not be the only option our society can offer.
The new court is a long-awaited initiative that will require offenders to be responsible for their crimes, while offering a helping hand to those with mental illnesses so they can get on the road to better health.
Also see:
Mental health court: Delivering on Tory promise
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