Published: September 10, 2008 02:17 am      

COURTS: Mental health court marks opening

The city’s newest specialty court celebrated a new beginning on Tuesday, as clients and judges, alike, gathered to officially open the Lockport Mental Health Court.

Mental health court, held on Friday mornings, is the third specialty court in the city, following in the footsteps of drug court and youth court programs.

The purpose of the specialty court is to help get to the root of problems that cause people to continue committing crimes, said Judge William J. Watson.

“The overall majority of people are not bad,” he said. “They’re good people that suffer from an illness, that suffer from a disease. ... Punishment doesn’t affect a disease.”

The program includes specialized programs, including counseling, drug testing, educational and vocational training, and incentives.

Tuesday’s event featured several speakers, from Lockport Police Chief Larry Eggert and Mayor Michael Tucker to state Sen. George Maziarz, but the crowd reacted most to a young woman identified as Karen E., who spoke of her own experience with the program.

Karen said she struggled with depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. At one point, she pulled herself out of counseling and off her meds, convinced she did not need them.

Instead, she turned to illegal drugs to treat the symptoms of her illnesses.

“I really had no idea how wrong I was,” she said. “I thought I had things under control. I was out of control and so blinded by the drug, I couldn’t tell I was really destroying everything I held dear.”

Her brushes with the law led to stints in jail, where she received no help for her mental illnesses. She eventually ended up in the mental health court, at the time a brand new program.

There, she said, she found the help she needed.

“I owe my life to the Lockport Mental Health Court,” she said, thanking Watson for his dedication to the program.

“He really does care about all of us here,” Karen said. “He wants to know us and understand us.”

Watson said the success of the program is due to all the help he receives from his staff and others.

“I do what I do because of those that are around me,” he said. “They are the ones that do all the work. ... We all share a common goal, and that is to make the criminal justice system the best in the world.”

Judge Sharon S. Townsend, administrative judge for the Eighth Judicial District, said specialty courts help get people on new paths in life.

“We need to stop the revolving door,” she said. “We need ... to work and support them, to make them have successful lives.”

Contact reporter April Amadon at 439-9222, ext. 6251.