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Mentally Disordered Offenders

By Neil Shous, Esq.

Mentally disordered offenders (referred to as MDOs) are California state prison inmates who suffer from severe mental illness. And while it is believed that more than half of all state jail and prison inmates are affected by mental illness, MDOs only make up a small percentage of this population. This is because the phrase ?mentally disordered offenders ?MDOs?? is a very technical one. People who suffer from illness such as depression, personality or adjustment disorders, mental retardation, drug and/or alcohol addiction, or many other relatively common mental diagnoses are excluded from the MDO class. MDOs are exclusively offenders whose severe mental disorders caused (or largely contributed to) the offense for which the individual was imprisoned, whose condition can?t be kept in remission without treatment, and who present a substantial risk of reoffending based on their disorder...continue to full post

Full post as published by California Criminal Defense Blog on June 10, 2010 (boomark / email).