NEW COURT SERVES PEOPLE

The new Mental Health Court in Davidson County fills one more gap in
Nashville's ability to deal responsibly with offenders.

Presided over by General Sessions Judge Mark Fishburn, the court has
already exceeded expectations in one regard. It's handling 122 people, four
times what general sessions judges thought it would handle in the first year.

An erroneous presumption in some quarters is that this court and others
like it in the system, including the drug court, are just another
get-out-of-jail free card for people who belong behind bars. Yet, these
alternatives to jail save space and money, and almost certainly save lives.
In the mental health court, those who take advantage of the program accept
supervision and have access to a wide range of services they would not have
behind bars. The court just celebrated the acquisition of a transitional
housing unit for the mentally ill.

As Drug Court Judge Seth Norman points out elsewhere on this page, almost
300 people have been kept out of incarceration because of these alternative
courts. That's at least $12,750 a day that Nashville taxpayers are not
paying to keep them locked up. Plus, it gives the individual the support
services they need to avoid criminal behavior in the future.

Statistics show the high rate of recidivism in state prisons was directly
related to the low rate of alternatives and programs. Since state
legislators aren't likely to provide help anytime soon, counties like
Davidson must find innovative ways to reduce their own overcrowded jails
and provide space for those who do need to be behind bars. Federal grants
have allowed the courts to start these special programs.

Nashville is fortunate to have judges willing not only to look at
alternatives but to beat the bushes in search of the best way to handle
certain cases. The law must punish when necessary, but it should also
provide some answers to chronic criminal problems. Nashville residents are
lucky to say that our court system does.