Destigmatizing & Litigating Mental and Behavioral Health in Criminal Cases

The number of individuals with mental illness and behavioral health?conditions in the criminal legal system continues to increase, at enormous fiscal, health, and human costs. Mentally ill persons, many of whom enter the criminal justice system for offenses and aberrant behaviors related to their illnesses, often serve substantially longer sentences than others convicted of similar crimes, and are?automatic candidates for punitive sanctions like solitary confinement. Judges and prosecutors are often undereducated on the role mental health plays in criminal conduct and often?believe punishment is the answer, rather than treatment.?Until America decriminalizes mental illness, criminal defense lawyers–and particularly, public defenders–must shoulder the tremendous responsibility of providing outstanding representation to those with mental and behavioral health issues.?

Representing a client with mental and behavioral illness requires an in-depth understanding of criminal procedure, experts, mental health defenses, and effective communication tactics. There is also a growing need to understand defendants' stories and the impact trauma, grief, and abuse have on mental health. This CLE program from NACDL brings together the nation’s top experienced lawyers, doctors, and thought leaders with expertise in mental health issues to empower attorneys to do exactly that.

The training will be held in historic, Savannah, Georgia, and covers issues relating to competence, the NGI defense, Sexually Violent Person (SVP) commitments, coping with grief and loss, storytelling and sentencing, the impact of COVID on mental health, and the traumatic effects of policing in communities of color. Zealous, informed advocacy can break the powerful negative stigma society has attached to mental illness. Join your colleagues for this essential training to learn how, and to understand why excellent representation of those with mental and behavioral health needs is more important than ever.?

LEARN MORE: www.nacdl.org/Mental-Illness

#NACDL #mentalillness #criminaldefense