(Aug. 6, 2015) Jack McClellan – a 62-year-old, veteran with mental illness – was charged with eight minor offenses in the span of six months last year in Minnesota. When McClellan came before the Hennepin County Court, he was deemed incompetent to face the charges against him and the case was sent to civil commitment court (“The uncommittables: How offenders with mental illnesses fall through the cracks of Minnesota’s criminal justice system,” MinnPost, July 20).
But the Judge on the civil side did not believe McClellan posed enough danger to himself or others to qualify for civil commitment, and he was released. Three months later McClellan was back in court, this time wearing medical boots due to the severe frostbite he suffered while living homeless on the streets.
McClellan is a “gap patient,” or “uncommittable.”
His mental illness means he is considered not competent enough to face criminal charges, but he also doesn’t meet the standard for court-ordered mental health treatment. As a result, McClellan and many others fall through the cracks of the public health system.
Last year, more than half of those deemed incompetent to face charges were also uncommittable, according to the Post.
“It should be obvious that our system is failing when it allows about one-half of the people who are too mentally ill to face a criminal charge to be simply turned out to the streets without treatment,” said Judge Jay Quam, who previously presided over Hennepin’s civil commitment court.
Gap patients like McClellan frequently cycle back into the system repeatedly, until they become dangerous or disabled and are finally committed. In the meantime, particularly if they’re not getting treatment, their mental and physical health deteriorates.
Hennepin County Judge Kerry Meyer believes that cases like McClellan's shouldn't have to escalate before patients can get court-ordered help. “Just because a person does not meet the commitment standard does not mean he or she would not benefit from services,” Meyer says.
We agree.
In a few states, like Minnesota, grounds for committing a patient to the mental health system is “dangerousness” – the requirement that an individual be an immediate, physical danger to self or others.
That leaves most people with severe mental illness, like McClellan, out in the cold – not quite dangerous, but susceptible to deterioration and needless suffering.
(Photo: Pawel Loj/Flickr)
To comment, visit our Facebook page.
Visit our blog archive to read all our recent posts.