Criminal Law Library Blog
Adopted August 2016; Revised Commentary 2017 and 2024.
FROM THE INTRODUCTION:
Persons with mental disorders are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system. Studies suggest that anywhere from 16 to 24% of people in jails and prisons have a serious mental illness.1 This rate is three to 12 times higher than the rate of serious mental disability in the community, 2 and at least three times higher than the population in psychiatric hospitals.3 It also represents a vast increase over the incarceration rate of people with mental disability 30 years ago, when the first edition of these Standards was promulgated.4 If mental disorder is defined more broadly, to include personality disorders, the percentages involved in the criminal system skyrocket to over 50%.