By: TANIA OLIVARES
Staff Writer
People that suffer from mental illness shouldn’t be sent to prison due to it being overcrowded, as well as not contributing anything to help them. They should rather be placed in a rehabilitation program in order to learn from their mistakes, not repeat them, and for them to learn why it was wrong. Places like Santa Monica and Venice have a lot of mentally ill people. The mentally ill are also getting punished for their actions when they should be getting treated instead. Jails are overcrowded anyway, and they should get help in some type of program that can help change people’s behavior. They simply do not know what they are doing and that is wrong. People with mental illnesses who commit a crime should be sent to some kind of rehabilitation center where they could get help instead of being sent to jail. People go to jail to reflect on what they did and how they can do better when they get out. However, people with mental disabilities need to be taught what they did wrong and learn the difference between right and wrong.