S. 1194: the Mentally Ill Offender Act

October 5, 2004

Legislation

On October 27, 2003 , the U.S. Senate unanimously passed S. 1194, the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2003. The Act was introduced by Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH) and would be a good start towards ensuring that mentally ill offenders receive the proper treatment they need with grants designed to create community based treatment programs and other services. The programs receiving the grants would be required to operate collaboratively with criminal justice and mental health agencies. In March of this year, Cardinal McCarrick, Chairman of the Domestic Policy Committee, and Mr. Tom De ! Stefano, President of Catholic Charities USA, wrote to the members of the House Judiciary Committee asking them to support Senator DeWines bill.

The bill has now been scheduled to reach the floor of the House of Representatives on Wednesday, October 6. There appears to be great bipartisan support for the bill but under the rules the House is following, the bill will need a two-thirds majority in order to pass.

What You Can Do

Contact your Representative ASAP and ask him/her to vote for S. 1194, the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2003.

If you don't know your Representative's phone number, call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and asked to be connected to his or her office.

For More Information

Contact Andy Rivas 202-541-3190; (fax) 202-541-3339; arivas@usccb.org.