Kaptur House Briefing Focuses On the Incarcerated Mentally Ill

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 29, 2014) -- Congresswoman Kaptur held a briefing on mental illness and the criminal justice system this week in Washington, D.C.

The briefing, titled “Mental Illness in America’s Prisons and Jails,” was co-hosted by Congressman Bobby Scott and Congressman Cedric Richmond. Panelists included Amy Fettig of the American Civil Liberties Union, Ron Honberg of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Laura Markle Downton of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, and Jennifer Mathis of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law.

“Our hope is to provide better care for ill inmates, reduce the costs of incarceration, and less the risk of recidivism for those prisons ultimatelyi released from confinement,” said Congressman Kaptur.

Kaptur noted that as many as 400,000 inmates in America’s prisons and jails suffer from mental illness. As many as 40 percent of all Americans with mental illness will pass through the criminal justice system at some point. Moreover, she highlighted that mentally-ill state prison inmates receive sentences that on average extend more than 12 months longer than other offenders.

“Treatment can benefit both the public and people with mental illness,” she said. “Most jail inmates with mental illness are charged with non-violent offenses and treatment is the best way to prevent recidivism.”

At the same time, inmates with mental illness cost more to incarcerate than other inmates and effective treatment can actually save tax dollars. Current costs of incarcerating mentally-ill prisoners exceed $9 billion a year.

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