Can There be Justice Without Dignity?

The rejection of stigma and prejudice in favor of dignity is the essence of social justice.” Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren, 2018

I was prepared to fail. That was my first thought when the Chief Judge Dale Ross called to congratulate me on my appointment to Broward’s Mental Health Court.

“Congratulations Ginger” Said, Chief Judge Dale Ross.

“You are our new mental health court judge…when would you like to start?”

“Ten days…if you could just give me ten days.” I replied.

In 1997, I became a judge. It was a critical time for our court system. As a lawyer with specialized training in disability rights and mental health advocacy, I always viewed my appointment to the court as a synchronistic event. In 1994, a Broward County Grand Jury had been assembled to investigate Broward County’s mental health system. After an extensive 8-month investigation, the Grand Jury issued a 153-page scathing report. At the time, the Grand Jury’s overall conclusion about the state of Broward’s mental health system was described by Sun-Sentinel writer, Trevor Jensen in one word — “deplorable.”

An ad hoc Broward County Criminal Justice/Mental Health Task Force was assembled in response to the Grand Jury report. Its mission was to identify and implement strategies to efficiently process cases of persons arrested with mental illnesses, cognitive disorders, and co-occurring substance use disorders. Systemic problems to be addressed included jail overcrowding, an over-representation of persons incarcerated with mental illness, and suicides in the jail. The catalyst for a specialized mental health court was the high-profile care of Aaron Wynn (A New Justice System for the Mentally Ill).

In developing the plan for the court, the success of diversion from the jail was dependent upon buy-in from our existing community behavioral health and social service providers. Our team needed to engage the public and private behavioral health care providers across the county. There was no funding or grants. This meant that service models would have to change to serve the court’s goals for diversion. The sense of urgency for diversion would be grounded in a campaign for mental health and human rights. Therefore, the law reform science of Therapeutic Jurisprudence (TJ) which supported the first problem-solving drug court (1989), was adopted and modified to serve persons with mental health conditions. In this regard, dignity became a strategy unto itself.

In my view, dignity needed to the centerpiece of mental health court process and integrated into every facet and component of court process. My thought, that if our efforts to engage the community failed, family members and individuals referred to the court would know there was an empathic judge dedicated to the promotion of access to community-based care. That I would use the authority of the court to access individualized care for those who willing to participate in the court.

To the credit of an amazing court team, and a courageous community with a thirst for justice, Broward’s Mental Health Court has diverted more than 20,000 people out of jail, with linkage to individualized treatment and services. In retrospect, I believe that the reliance on TJ and principles of dignity has been transformative. Over the years, the promotion of dignity has changed the culture of our court system. From the way we communicate to the the advancement of due process and equality under the law- dignity is the foundation for the rule of law.

As the world battles the COVID-19 Pandemic and the inequities in health and justice. It is all our responsibilities to promote kindness, respect, and basic human dignity. In this regard, we all have the power to promote justice — and through dignity — we will not fail.