After Efforts from Sens. Franken and Cornyn, Bipartisan Measure to Combat Mental Health Crisis in Criminal Justice System is One Step Closer to Becoming Law
Press Release
Last night, the Senate approved U.S. Sens. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and John Cornyn's (R-Texas) bipartisan legislation to make our communities safer by improving access to mental health services for people in the criminal justice system who need treatment.
Earlier this year, Sens. Franken and Cornyn introduced the Comprehensive Justice and Mental Health Act, which would help reduce the rates of repeat offenders and improve safety for law enforcement officers. The bill cleared the full Senate yesterday, and now needs to pass in the House of Representatives before becoming law.
"Our criminal justice system is broken--it doesn't help treat people who have mental illnesses, and it doesn't protect the safety of law enforcement personnel," said Sen. Franken. "The United States has five percent of the world's population, but 25 percent of the world's prison population. And that's in large part because we have criminalized mental illness, using our justice system as a substitute for a fully functioning mental health system. That's a huge problem, and my Comprehensive Justice and Mental Health Act would help fix it."
Sen. Franken continued, "I've been working for years on this bill, and I'm very pleased to say that we just took a huge step towards reforming how our criminal justice system treats mental illness. My bill bolsters federal support for mental health services--including special support for veterans who need help--and provides critical training to law enforcement.
"Now that our legislation has cleared the Senate, I'm going to fight to get it passed in the House of Representatives and signed into law. It's too important to continue ignoring this crisis," said Sen. Franken
"Our jails and prisons are increasingly on the front lines of our nation's mental health epidemic," said Sen. Cornyn. "Passing this bill is a critical first step towards better identifying offenders suffering from mental illness and getting them the help they need so we can end the perpetual cycle of imprisonment."
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