Student abstract from Prof. Mae Quinn's course:

Issues in the Law: Problem-Solving Courts Advocacy Program Seminar

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Adam Ruf

Modern Mental Health Courts: A Step Back?

 The mental health court model is relatively new outlook for generations of courts dealing with the mentally ill. Mental health courts claim to fit somewhere in the middle of a pendulum swing; using both sanctions and mandated therapy as a way of dealing with the mentally ill. While the procedures of these mental health courts are as varied as colors in a rainbow, they share a common problem. Mental health courts and traditional courts pose serious ethical problems for lawyers with mentally ill clients.

A close examination of what procedural safeguards exist in mental health courts is necessary in order to determine what type of ethical dilemmas are present. However, the "traditional" or the regular court system is also flawed, as it presents many ethical dilemmas of its own. How do those compare with the ethical dilemmas that arise in mental health courts? Is the "new" form of justice (mental health courts) any better at helping practicing lawyers defend their mentally ill clients from the ignorance (dare it be said abuse) of the system? Are mental health courts a solution for the justice system, providing mentally ill defendants with much needed treatment? Does the mental health court model affect a different form of sterilization; taking away defendant's due process rights as opposed to their right to have children?

To examine these questions this paper will include four sections: (1) an analysis of the procedures in traditional court settings; (2) a look at ethical dilemmas a lawyer faces in traditional court; (3) an overview of three main categories of mental health court procedures; and (4) an examination of how those procedures can cause their own unique dilemmas for lawyers representing mentally ill clients in mental health courts. Unfortunately, there are no clear answers to the questions raised. Mental health courts have their problems, and they must be addressed if they seek to offer a solution to the problem of how to treat the mentally ill defendant. Mental health courts may help meet clients needs better than traditional courts, but they can still leave lawyers frustrated at the lack of protection afforded to clients.

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