Offenders who suffer from mental illness will soon have a different type of justice system experience available to them in Saint John with the imminent re-opening of the mental health court which will be helmed by a provincial court judge from Quispamsis.
Judge Andrew Palmer was appointed as a provincial court judge in August of 2014 and it was then he was asked if he would be interested in presiding over the court, which had been the domain of Judge Alfred Brien before his retirement in 2013.
After four years, Saint John’s mental health court will be back in session sometime in early November and Palmer tells CHSJ News they expect to start slow.
“We’re probably going to take a finite number of individuals, get our feet underneath us and grow it from there,” Palmer says.
The mental health court is a voluntary, diversionary program for those who are mentally-ill and plead guilty to a crime. A mental health plan is then established for that person and they have to stick with it in order to stay within the program. Judge Palmer tells CHSJ News just about every day in the courts you see people who are struggling with mental health and addiction issues.
“Everyone in here and I think every judge across the province has recognized that there is a need for a mental health component to our court. If we can get some people that are struggling with their day to day issues, it may help with respect to their level of recidivism,” says Palmer.
“You hope that, if there are issues that are repeatedly bringing them to the attention of the police that they address those issues. If it’s adequately done then hopefully they can get the help they need and they will not continue to come back.”
According to the province, 85% of cases that were heard by Judge Brien in the mental health court did not result in a re-offence.
There are mental health courts throughout Canada, though Saint John was and will be the only mental health court site in the province. Premier Brian Gallant has told CHSJ News that once it’s reinstated in the Port City and is working well, then they will be looking at scaling up to other regions across the province.
You can hear the full interview with Judge Palmer on our weekly news magazine show Pulse NB, which airs on Sundays on 94.1FM after the 9am newscast and again at 9pm.
