Criminalization of Mental Illness, Thursday and Friday

From the University of Southern California Law News Service
Contact: Gilien Silsby at (213) 740-9690 or (213) 500-8673

MEDIA ADVISORY

Criminalization of Mental Illness: Challenges and Opportunities in Aftermath of Tragedy at USC’s Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy, and Ethics, Thursday and Friday

Law enforcement, legal experts and mental health professionals discuss challenges and opportunities after Newtown, Aurora and Virginia Tech massacres

WHAT: The Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy, and Ethics at USC Law  is hosting “The Criminalization of Mental Illness,” an event reflecting on progressive mental health policies in the shadow of tragedy.

WHEN: The two-day event takes place on Thursday, April 11 and Friday, April 12, 2013, beginning at 9 a.m.

WHO: Speakers include: Barry Perrou of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department; Marvin Southard of Los Angeles County Mental Health; Judge Steven Leifman of the Miami-Dade County Court Criminal Division; Ralph Aquila of the Fountain House in New York; Jennifer Skeem of UC Irvine; Richard Lamb of the USC Keck School of Medicine, Paul Freese of the Public Counsel Law Center, David Meyer of USC Psychiatry; Stephen Mayberg, former director of the California Department of Mental Health and Anna Yee, a juvenile court consultant.  

KEYNOTE: Richard Bonnie will deliver the keynote address, “Mental Health Law Reform in the Shadow of Tragedy: Is it Possible to Control the Message?" drawing on the experiences as chair of Virginia’s Commission on Mental Health Law Reform in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings. Bonnie will highlight the difficulties posed by proposals to “keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill” in the wake of recent massacres, including Newtown, where 20 year old Adam Lanza shot twenty children and six adult staff murders in the small town of Sandy Hook in Newton, Connecticut.

WHERE:

Thursday: The event will take place at the USC Radisson Grand Ballroom, 3540 S. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007.

Friday: The event will take place at the USC Gould Faculty Lounge, Room 433, 699 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90089

MEDIA: Reservations required. Please call Gilien Silsby at 213-740-9690