2020 Texas Tech Mental Health Law Symposium

Presented by Volume 53 of the Texas Tech Law Review

To view the Mental Health Law Symposium video recording and materials, please click here. 

The Texas Tech Law Review and the Texas Tech University School of Law were proud to host the virtual 2020 Texas Tech Mental Health Law Symposium via Zoom on November 20, 2020.

Like our first two programs on mental health law in Fall 2016 and Fall 2018, respectively, this year’s program addressed practical legal and policy issues that can contribute to improvements in our public mental health system and help address the significant challenges faced by our criminal justice system and law enforcement with regard to alleged offenders with mental illness. The program was specifically designed to be of use to practicing lawyers and judges.

The program featured an array of outstanding speakers who are leaders in the field. For example, John Petrila, the Senior Executive Vice President of Policy for the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, discussed the Evolving State of Mental Health Care in Texas and Its Impact on the Courts, based on lessons learned from community assessments conducted by the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute.

In addition, Judge Milton Mack, State Court Administrator, Emeritus, from Michigan, focused on why, “It Takes a Community to Decriminalize Mental Illness.” Sabah Muhammad, a Legislative & Policy Counsel for the Treatment Advocacy Center in Arlington, Virginia, spoke about: “Untenable Space: How the Law Hinders Liberty for Individuals and Families of Color Living with Severe Mental Illness.” Ms. Muhammad recently penned the following important editorial on a related topic for the Washington Post: Editorial.

Other program highlights included presentations by Judge Brent Carr and Judge Nelda Cacciotti from Tarrant County on “Managing Mental Health Populations,” including a focus on their successful development of a mental health court and veterans court in Fort Worth, and a discussion by Beth Lawson, the Chief Executive Officer of StarCare Specialty Health System in Lubbock and Lee Johnson, the Deputy Director of the Texas Council of Community Centers, on the subject of “Treatment Through Collaboration: Building Partnerships Between Courts and Local Authorities.” Finally, Horn Distinguished Professor Brian Shannon of the Texas Tech School of Law addressed, “Recent Significant Texas Mental Health Legislation & Proposals for 2021.”

For the full program see the 2020 Program Brochure. Please contact our Symposium Editor, Neely Brown with any questions.