On the recordApril 20, 2015
I am proud to be an original cosponsor of legislation offered by Senators Cornyn and Franken, the Comprehensive Justice and Mental Health Act. This critical piece of bipartisan legislation would promote alternatives to incarceration by helping identify and treat Americans suffering from mental illness. For far too long our criminal justice system has been a substitute for a mental health system. That practice is costly, wastes limited resources, and is contrary to evidence-based practices proven to make our communities safer. I thank Senators Cornyn and Franken for their hard work on this important criminal justice reform bill. Today, law enforcement is ill-equipped and not properly trained to deal with individuals suffering from severe mental disorders whose conditions can cause them to commit crimes. The mentally ill are too often treated as common criminals and are not given access to the critical treatment they need. The Comprehensive Justice and Mental Health Act would save taxpayers' money and effectively use limited resources by ensuring our prisons contain violent offenders as opposed to those who suffer from mental illnesses. When more than four of five inmates with a mental illness are not treated in jail, we waste resources by incarcerating them. This bill would make the public safer and save taxpayers' money by ensuring that we continue to support vital programs, such as mental health courts, veterans' courts, and crisis intervention teams.…
