Georgia Supreme Court chosen for national project on Criminal Justice and Mental Health Issues
Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears to Lead Statewide Task Force

ATLANTA (February 15, 2007) – Yesterday the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center announced that the Georgia State Supreme Court has been selected to participate in the Chief Justices' Criminal Justice/Mental Health Leadership Initiative. The initiative is a national project with the goal of assisting state supreme court chief justices in taking a leadership role to address criminal justice and mental health issues within their state. 

   "This initiative will allow Georgia to create a partnership across the branches of state government in order to develop solutions for delivering public services for mentally ill persons in the state," said Speaker Glenn Richardson, who also serves as the Chairman of the CSG's Southern Legislative Conference. "I look forward to working with the statewide task force led by Chief Justice Sears as we focus on implementing creative, prudent, and cost-effective answers to this important issue." 

   The CSG Justice Center issued a request for applications from state supreme court chief justices who wished to establish a statewide task force regarding people with mental illnesses in the justice system. Chief justices are uniquely positioned to convene leaders from all three branches of state government and to encourage them to develop statewide, cross-system strategies that will improve outcomes for people with mental illnesses in the justice system. 

   Georgia was one of seven states chosen from twenty-three states that applied for the program. As part of the CSG Justice Center initiative, Georgia's task force, led by Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, will receive limited financial support and free technical assistance, including participation in a national, invite-only policy forum. 

   A study by the Department of State has shown that while 5 percent of the United States' population suffers from mental illnesses, sixteen percent of the prison and jail populations have a serious mental illness. Individuals afflicted by a mental illness are more likely to be incarcerated than the general public, and once incarcerated, inmates with mental illnesses will, on average, serve a longer portion of their sentences than other inmates. 

   For more information on the Chief Justice's Criminal/Mental Health Leadership Initiative, please visit the CSG's Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project website: http:// www.consensusproject.org/