Readers React: Jails aren’t for the mentally ill

To the editor: Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey and other L.A. County officials deserve high marks for adopting the diversion pilot program for mental illness offenders involved in misdemeanor-level crimes. (“Mental illness program could transform L.A. County justice system,” Sept. 17)

The program will put mental illness offenders on a path to treat their illness and reclaim their lives through qualified, local agencies and facilities. If extended, the program can make a necessary dent in the local inmate population while reversing the high risk of those offenders becoming repeat offenders had they done jail time.

Prison is no place to treat mental illness.

William Rees, Studio City

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