Judicial officers, at a variety of stages in the criminal process, must weigh the interests of justice and the needs of people with mental illness. The Consensus Project recommends ways to ensure that judges and other court officials have the necessary information and a wide array of options to respond appropriately to these cases.

Though the Consensus Project encourages a systemic approach to improving the criminal justice system response to people with mental illness, we recognize the need for judicial officers to focus on the issues that most directly pertain to their roles. To that end, we recommend that judicial officers focus on the following sections: