UPDATE: Floods, now fire. One would think they're marching their way through the biblical plagues North of the Border. Check out the Broward Blog. Karma baby. Karma.
The Herald ran a disturbing article about the "new" crisis for the treatment of the mentally ill at the Dade County Jail. The article is here. We were never told that the original crisis had ended.
Quote from the article:
''What I saw this morning is inhumane,'' said state Sen. Nan H. Rich, a Sunrise Democrat who is vice chairwoman of the Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee and a long-standing mental health advocate who appeared visibly upset after the visit.
Rumpole says: Welcome to the party. Any defense attorney who has visited a client on the ninth floor (otherwise known as the precursor to hell- the link is for our robed readers) can tell you that Florida's treatment of the mentally ill is our State's biggest shame.
Judge Steve Leifman noted that Florida needs to build 19 (nineteen!!!???) new prisons in the next five years to keep up with the inmate population. Leifman also noted that with the mentally ill untreated, half return to prison based on violations associated with their illnesses. Leifman said "If we could just deal with the mental health population in prison, we would not need to build a new prison every year.''
Rumpole ponders: Lets see: spend hundreds of millions on new prisons, with fixed costs (staffing, food, maintenance, etc) for generations to come, OR spend less, and deal with the mentally ill humanely.
What do you think our politicians will do? Unfortunately we think the answer is all too obvious.
When we titled the article "they're crazy" it wasn't the inmates on the ninth floor we were talking about.
See you in court.
12 comments:
PRE-CUR-SOR
One that precedes and indicates the approach of another;
From Latin- praecursor, from praecurrere, meaning to run before.
Great word Rump.
slum dog was hands down the best pic of the lot
Gotta disagree. Benjamin Buttons followed by The Reader.
And Benjamin Buttons was hands down the winner for best adapted screenplay. It was a travesty they didn't win that.
Button was a snooze-fest. Great special effects + a lousy story.
That's it. Tell me your name. Your banned from the blog. I tolerate NO DISSENT!!!
SLUM DOG was FABULOUS, watch it again RUMP, this time with your eyes opened.
Tropic Thunder was the best movie of the year! Oscar snobs dissed it!!
A lawyer who drew a ton of publicity as he collected millions of dollars in clergy sexual-abuse settlements from the Archdiocese of Miami has been suspended from practicing law for 1 ½ years by the Florida Supreme Court.
The problem with treating the mentally ill in jail is state wide and requires a state wide solution. The proposed DCF plan takes money from the 1700 beds (not the prison system) and allegedly gives it dollar for dollar to community based treatment. This means that the State will take away the forensic beds prior to any benefit from a community based system, leaving us back with the mentally ill being held in jails for long periods of time waiting for beds to open up. But wait, it gets worse. The Senate is currently considering a bill (SB 514)that will allow county court judges to commit misdermeanor defendants to the State Forensic system thus requireing more beds and placeing loiterers and tresspassers in the same facility as murderers and rapeists. The crisis is comming back and can only be averted by an increased use of the civil system's receiving facilities, many of which have open beds (and are required to be used when a party is under arrest pursuant to F.S. 394.462) and enforcement and funding of Florida's involuntary outpatient laws (F.S 394.4655). Florida does not need new laws it needs funding of existing programs for the mentally ill. That will go a long way in preventing future crisis and may eventually lead to a decreased number of forensic beds.
When did the sao office turn from a law firm to a jazzercise and choir practice ensemble??? Don H has some really smooth moves this year.
Slumdog Millionaire was fantastic
Benjamin Button needed some karate and nude scenes to pull it out of the snooze fest category.
The Dark Knight should have been nominated for best picture. Like "Titanic", it was one of the few movies that lived up to the hype.
I called the SAO yesterday and had this conversation: (yes business is slow and i'm a tad immature)
Me: I'd like to join your gym
Operator: this is the state attorneys office
Me: aren't you the nice building on 12th with all the funny dressed people
Oper: yes
Me: looks like a gym to me. How much to join?
Oper: Those are lawyers that work here
Me: so those lawyers don't wear suits?
Oper: no. The lawyers were rehearsing for a performance
Me: so your lawyers don't rehearse for trial, but they do for shows
Oper: yes, that's correct
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