Diocesan News

Only in Print: Under Catholic Judge, Mental Health Court Helps Rehabilitate Offenders | December 14, 2019

Judge Matthew D’Emic, who is Catholic, has presided over Brooklyn’s mental health court for 17 years. The court aims to provide an alternative to incarceration for eligible criminals with serious mental illnesses, to keep them out of jail and in treatment. (Photos: Allyson Escobar)

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Sitting at his courtroom bench post on a recent Thursday morning in December, Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Matthew D’Emic hands a graduate of his alternative court program a certificate of completion, smiling as those in the courtroom applaud.

“Congratulations,” D’Emic, a parishioner of Our Lady of Angels, Bay Ridge, said. “It’s been great to work with you
and see your progress.”

D’Emic has led the Brooklyn Mental Health Court since its founding in 2002. It serves as a way to rehabilitate
those who are charged with crimes and who have mental illnesses while keeping them out of jail…


The rest of this article can be found exclusively in the Dec. 14 printed version of The Tablet. You can buy it at church for $1, or you can receive future editions of the paper in your mailbox at a discounted rate by subscribing here. Thank you for supporting Catholic journalism.