A Court of Refuge
Page 22
17. Ibid.
18. Ibid., 4.
19. Florida Grand Jury, “Mental Health Investigation,” interim report, Spring Term, November 9, 1994.
Chapter 15: Recovery Is Real
1. Debbie Plotnick is vice president for mental health and systems advocacy at Mental Health America and provides leadership for mental health systems advocacy initiatives within the group’s affiliate network.
2. Florida Grand Jury, Mental Health Investigation, interim report, Spring Term, November 9, 1994.
3. Fox Butterfield, “Asylums Behind Bars: A Special Report: Prisons Replace Hospitals for the Nation’s Mentally Ill,” New York Times, March 5, 1998.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren is a humanitarian and mental health advocate who pioneered the first therapeutic mental health court in the United States, dedicated to the safe decriminalization of people with mental illness and neurological disorders, with the goals of breaking arrest cycles and promoting recovery and public safety. Judge Lerner-Wren is an adjunct professor in Nova Southeastern University’s College of Psychology. She lives in Broward County, Florida.
Rebecca A. Eckland is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in TAYO: Literary Magazine, Hotel Amerika, and Weber: The Contemporary West.
BEACON PRESS
Boston, Massachusetts
www.beacon.org
Beacon Press books
are published under the auspices of
the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.
© 2018 by Ginger Lerner-Wren
All rights reserved
Text design and composition by Kim Arney
Cover design: Bob Kosturko
Cover art: Photo courtesy of iStockphoto
Many names and identifying characteristics of people mentioned in this work have been changed to protect their identities.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Lerner-Wren, Ginger, author. | Eckland, Rebecca A., author.
Title: A court of refuge : stories from the bench of America’s first mental health court / Ginger Lerner-Wren, Rebecca A. Eckland.
Description: Boston, Massachusetts : Beacon Press, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017044843 (print) | LCCN 2017045126 (ebook) | ISBN 9780807086995 (ebook) | ISBN 9780807086988 (hardback)
Subjects: LCSH: Mental health courts—United States. | Mentally ill offenders—Legal status, laws, etc.—United States. | People with mental disabilities and crime—United States. | Criminal justice, Administration of—United States. | BISAC: LAW / Disability. | MEDICAL / Mental Health. | BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Lawyers & Judges.
Classification: LCC KF3828.5 (ebook) | LCC KF3828.5 .L47 2018 (print) | DDC 345.73/01—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017044843
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Contents
Author’s Note
Chapter 1: A Race for Justice
Chapter 2: The Shackles Come Off
Chapter 3: Punishing Loss
Chapter 4: The Raging Voice of Dignity
Chapter 5: Simple Dreams
Chapter 6: I Once Was Lost
Chapter 7: Therapeutic Justice Goes Mainstream
Chapter 8: Brothers and Sisters
Chapter 9: Changing Hearts and Minds
Chapter 10: A Rush to Privatization
Chapter 11: In Honor of Our Elders
Chapter 12: The Power of Human Connection
Chapter 13: A Crying Shame
Chapter 14: A Referendum on Hope
Chapter 15: Recovery Is Real
Acknowledgments
Notes
About the Author
Copyright
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Guide
Cover
Copyright
Contents
>
Chapter 1