On March 6, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved, by voice vote, the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement Act (S. 2304), sponsored by Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM), after adopting, by unanimous consent, a substitute amendment by Chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT). The House passed a similar measure (H.R. 3992) on January 23 (see The Source, 1/25/08).
The bill, as amended, would authorize $35 million annually for FY2009-2013 for four new grant programs, including one to provide for the treatment of female prisoners who are mentally ill. The bill also would authorize $2 million for FY2009 for the attorney general to conduct a study of the prevalence of mentally ill individuals on probation, in jail, in prison, or on parole and report its findings to Congress within 18 months of the bill’s enactment.
