Mental Illness and Competency in the Criminal Justice System
Research shows that the high frequency population of the criminal justice system - those that cycle in and out of county jails - are a small pool of offenders suffering from serious mental illnesses and/or substance abuse disorders. Rather than increasing incarceration sentences, state resources should focus on treatment and risk factors for this population in order to get at the root cause of high frequency recidivism.
GAMI and the Insanity Defense
Utah is one of only four states in the U.S. that does not have a traditional insanity defense, instead relying on a Guilty and Mentally Ill (GAMI) plea that is extremely difficult for defendants to raise effectively.
Our organization worked extensively on H.B. 385 Mentally Ill Offenders Amendments, which passed in 2023. Under the new procedure, evaluators examine the defendant's state of mind at the time of the offense to determine whether the defendant suffered from a “mental condition,” defined to focus primarily on psychotic disorders and intellectual disabilities. If the defendant is found to suffer from a mental condition then, assuming competency, the defendant can enter a plea of guilty with a mental condition. Sentencing is delayed for one year, during which the defendant participates in mandatory treatment. At the end of this year, the court considers the defendant's progress in treatment as part of the sentencing process.
The Miami Model
Our organization supports the implementation of the Miami Model in Utah. The Miami Model is a voluntary diversion program for moderate to high risk individuals with serious mental illnesses or substance abuse disorders. In this program, resources are directed toward promoting successful re-integration with the community rather than short-term compliance and competency restoration. Each participant is assigned a “Peer Support Specialist,” who is often a graduate of the program. They provide participants with new clothes, food, and social support, in addition to more traditional methods of treatment such as medication.
Since the Miami Model is aimed at long-term behavioral changes, initial investments are high and it can take several years for the success to be reflected in numerical data. However, it is calculated that the Miami Model, by addressing the root causes of those cycling through the system, significantly lowers the yearly outstanding costs of “high-utilizers.”
Since the program was enacted in Miami, recidivism rates for “high-utilizers” fell from 75% to 25% and defendants are being released 33% to 50% faster. It was calculated that, for every 100 completers of the program, there was over $750,000 dollars saved in jail housing costs the following year (Duke Law, 2022).