#22 Rethinking our Approach to Misdemeanors

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Edward Jones, retired Judge and former Interim Executive Director of Oregon Public Defense Services (OPDS) discusses:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">What OPDS does;</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Long-term consequences of felonies and misdemeanors; </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">How misdemeanors can snowball into more serious consequences; </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Asking ourselves: is this the right approach for this problem? Is it a criminal justice issue? A public health issue?;</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Just sending someone to jail doesn’t address the root issues of the behavior resulting in them to going to jail; </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">What we can do differently; </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Disparities in treatment within the system; and</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Thoughtful analysis regarding enforcement and behavior change versus habitual behavior.</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For more information about the intersection between criminal justice and behavioral health in Oregon, please reach out to us through our website at</span> <a href="http://www.ocbhji.org/podcast"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">http://www.ocbhji.org/podcast</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">and Facebook page at</span> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OCBHJI/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">https://www.facebook.com/OCBHJI/</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. We’d love to hear from you.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For more information about OPDS