{"title":"A legal quagmire: the need for a public health approach to the competency crisis.","authors":"Erin McCauley, Zaire Cullins, Katherine LeMasters","doi":"10.1186/s40352-025-00379-9","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Competency to stand trial is a legal construct in the United States whereby an individual's capacity to meaningfully and knowingly function in a legal proceeding, typically for those with mental or developmental disabilities or dementia, is questioned. The competency determination and restoration process often leads to unnecessary and excessive incarceration of those with disabilities without treatment for the underlying cause of competency concerns, often worsening health and leading to repeated incarceration. Yet, this crisis is rarely considered from a public health lens. Further, the number of individuals entangled in this legal process has risen dramatically in recent years, with 130,000 competency evaluations being conducted annually. We review what is known about this topic from legal studies, provide case studies of individuals failed by this process, and outline the responses that criminal legal systems and local and state governments have had to this crisis (e.g., increase in jails' competency beds, diversion programs). We conclude that the competency process is a public health crisis which merits both study by public health researchers and a public health response.</p>","PeriodicalId":37843,"journal":{"name":"Health and Justice","volume":"13 1","pages":"65"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12595709/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Health and Justice","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40352-025-00379-9","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Competency to stand trial is a legal construct in the United States whereby an individual's capacity to meaningfully and knowingly function in a legal proceeding, typically for those with mental or developmental disabilities or dementia, is questioned. The competency determination and restoration process often leads to unnecessary and excessive incarceration of those with disabilities without treatment for the underlying cause of competency concerns, often worsening health and leading to repeated incarceration. Yet, this crisis is rarely considered from a public health lens. Further, the number of individuals entangled in this legal process has risen dramatically in recent years, with 130,000 competency evaluations being conducted annually. We review what is known about this topic from legal studies, provide case studies of individuals failed by this process, and outline the responses that criminal legal systems and local and state governments have had to this crisis (e.g., increase in jails' competency beds, diversion programs). We conclude that the competency process is a public health crisis which merits both study by public health researchers and a public health response.
期刊介绍：
Health & Justice is open to submissions from public health, criminology and criminal justice, medical science, psychology and clinical sciences, sociology, neuroscience, biology, anthropology and the social sciences, and covers a broad array of research types. It publishes original research, research notes (promising issues that are smaller in scope), commentaries, and translational notes (possible ways of introducing innovations in the justice system). Health & Justice aims to: Present original experimental research on the area of health and well-being of people involved in the adult or juvenile justice system, including people who work in the system; Present meta-analysis or systematic reviews in the area of health and justice for those involved in the justice system; Provide an arena to present new and upcoming scientific issues; Present translational science—the movement of scientific findings into practice including programs, procedures, or strategies; Present implementation science findings to advance the uptake and use of evidence-based practices; and, Present protocols and clinical practice guidelines. As an open access journal, Health & Justice aims for a broad reach, including researchers across many disciplines as well as justice practitioners (e.g. judges, prosecutors, defenders, probation officers, treatment providers, mental health and medical personnel working with justice-involved individuals, etc.). The sections of the journal devoted to translational and implementation sciences are primarily geared to practitioners and justice actors with special attention to the techniques used.
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