It seems that Edmonton is behind in its Justice System when it comes to finding the best way to rehabilitate and facilitate learning of living a functional and productive life outside of jail. In Toronto there is a crown prosecutor, Margaret Creal, who determines which people would benefit more from this new treatment which includes more support and rehabilitation efforts specific to the reason for their adverse behavior. I believe that this is a great way for the system to become more efficient at finding the root for a person's crime(s) and determining an effective rehabilitation route. These people will still go to jail if their case deems to be that serious, but will have opportunities to speak with a mental health professional and to hopefully be able to return to society and function fruitfully.
One issue that I can see immediately is the possibility for people to go to a medical professional prior to commiting a crime and saying they have the symptoms of a mental disability and recieving pharmaceutical treatment. Then the issue would be whether it is possible for them to defend themselves on the basis of not taking their medication as perscribed and being sent away with a slap on the wrist and being told to 'take your medicine.'
The creation of a crown prosecutor whose job it is to determine which cases can go through the normal justice system versus the mental health route, will help with finding the truth in the cause(s) for criminal behavior.
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