news-record.com

That's not really clear from this article. It says it will house inmates with mental illness who have been ordered detained by the court. That could mean they are waiting for a forensic psychiatric evaluation, or are on suicide watch, are incompetent to stand trial...it doesn't necessarily indicate that they are there for long-term placement due to a finding of "not guilty by reason of insanity".

Forensic psychiatric evaluations are not easy to obtain. It would be good to have another facility capable of providing that service. If you look at the link I posted below, there are also other services that we desperately need. Unless you think it's ok to let someone sit naked on a bedframe with no mattress while the floor is pooled with urine and feces, because the prison doesn't have enough staff to attend to someone with mental illness.

Well, first you should understand that most people with psychotic disorders are not dangerous. Scary. Uncomfortable to be around. Loud. Disruptive. But not dangerous in the sense you would imply with "criminally insane."

Hospitals are places where patients are treated, not "hang out". These patients would get mental health care that is sorely lacking in prisons. Prisons have become the defacto mental health centers, and that's not good for anyone: not the patient, not the officers, not other inmates, and certainly not society at large. A center like this would segregate the mentally ill from criminals who would abuse or manipulate them, and that's a good thing.

But a mental hospital is no kiddie camp. They're not fun places to be. They're safe places: safe for the patient, and safe for the community at large.

Also remember, most of these patients are pre-trial detainees. As in, innocent until proven guilty. "Real jail" is not where they belong if they need mental health care, nor is the community assuming they could make bail. A facility like this can confine a patient too ill to be on the streets but with the capacity to make traditional bail (though that has its own pitfalls).

Once the mental illness is stablized, they can be transferred to jail if that's the appropriate place for them to be.

I used to work as a correctional nurse. I knew how to spot malingerer's trying to use their mental illness to get to the state hospital instead of jail. So did the jail psychiatrist.