It's mischief, trespassing, shoplifting. Violent criminals would not be eligible for the proposed court, according to Assistant District Attorney John Bradley. The proposal was suggested by the Multnomah County chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, a private nonprofit advocacy group that represents families and spouses of people with mental illness. People with Alzheimer's don't go there for having Alzheimer's. People with Parkinson's disease don't go there for having Parkinson's disease.
Mental illness is a biological disorder.
We're plugging a hole in the system we should have plugged 50 years ago. To date, discussions have included prosecutors, public defenders, county and state mental-health officials, representatives from the offices of County Chair Beverly Stein and Sheriff Dan Noelle and County Commissioners Diane Linn and Sharron Kelley. So far, none of these parties has objected to the proposal, but that's partly because there's no price tag yet. For the court to work, the county would have to find money to pay for expanded treatment programs, although advocates say the county would save money in the long run. Not everyone likes the idea, however.