Las Vegas court program built around treatment, not incarceration
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — In a quiet courtroom tucked inside the Las Vegas Justice Court, lives are being rebuilt — not punished. Instead of jail time, individuals struggling with untreated mental illness or addiction are being offered a new path: one filled with counseling, care, and a shot at redemption.
For Judge Eric Goodman, this mission is more than professional — it's personal.
'When I was 19, I lost a good friend of mine to suicide,' Goodman said. 'Over the years, I've lost a number of friends to suicide or drug addiction. Every time that happened, I just wished I had done something.'
Now, from the bench, he's doing something big. Just months after taking the gavel in 2009, Goodman noticed a troubling pattern: the same people appearing in his courtroom again and again — many of them homeless, addicted, and living with serious mental illness. Jail, he realized, was not the answer.
In February 2023, Goodman partnered with fellow Justice Court Judge Nadia Wood to launch the Las Vegas Municipal Court Mental Health Court Program. Their goal: address the root causes of crime through treatment, not incarceration.
'Sometimes 30 to 40 percent of our jail population is on medication for mental health conditions,' Wood explained. 'The system wasn't built to treat them. This program is.'
The program is open to people over 18 with a serious mental health illness and a misdemeanor.
Participants must voluntarily commit to a rigorous program involving therapy, case management, medication stabilization, substance abuse treatment, and housing support. So far, 11 participants have completed the program. Many are now off the streets, sober, and in stable housing for the first time in years. But the impact goes beyond the individuals.
'It costs over $100,000 a year to keep someone in jail,' Wood said. 'With our program, it costs between $12,000 to $14,000 a year to have these individuals housed, fed, taken care of, receiving treatment, (and) receiving medication.'
For Goodman, graduation days are emotional.
'When I see them graduate and move on with their lives and be successful, it really touches me because I'll always think back to my friend who gave up early in life,' Goodman said. 'That was the end of his life, now these people are changing their lives, and they have a chance for a future.'
Goodman and Wood said the program not only saves lives — it makes the community safer. They hope to expand the program in the coming years, reaching more individuals in need — and continuing to shift the justice system from punishment to possibility.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Las Vegas hospital Nevada's first with 2 cutting-edge treatments
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — MountainView Hospital is making history as the first hospital in Nevada to perform both CAR T-cell therapy and allogeneic stem cell transplants, two cutting-edge treatments that can be lifesaving for patients battling blood cancers and other serious disorders. CAR T-cell therapy involves turning a patient's own cells into powerful weapons against their disease, while allogeneic stem cell transplant uses healthy donor cells to aid in recovery. These highly complex and sophisticated therapies have become a crucial tool in extending and, in many cases, saving the lives of patients with hard-to-treat disorders. 'There are two therapies. One is allogeneic stem cell transplant, which allows us to provide stem cells from other donors to patients who have a need for that. We are also bringing CAR T therapy which uses the patient's own cells,' said Dr. Carolyn Mulroney, medical director of the Sarah Cannon transplant and the CAR T-cell therapy program. Usually, many patients and their families have been forced to travel out of state to access these advanced treatments, adding financial stress and uncertainty during a difficult time. Now, thanks to MountainView's Sarah Cannon Transplant & Cellular Therapy Program, these lifesaving options are available close to home, supported by a team of multidisciplinary experts. This significant breakthrough comes just ahead of the grand opening for MountainView's first-of-its-kind 12,000-square-foot Day Hospital, a state-of-the-art facility designed to provide convenient, patient-centric care under one roof. The new Day Hospital will enable patients to undergo extensive treatments while retaining their routines and staying connected with their support networks. 'In an outpatient setting like this, it allows the patient to go home at the end of the day, sleep in their own bed, and be with their family,' Maria Rios, administrative director at MountainView Hospital, said. This marks a major step forward in health care for Nevada, ensuring that patients battling some of the most aggressive blood disorders can find hope without having to leave their community. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Las Vegas court program built around treatment, not incarceration
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — In a quiet courtroom tucked inside the Las Vegas Justice Court, lives are being rebuilt — not punished. Instead of jail time, individuals struggling with untreated mental illness or addiction are being offered a new path: one filled with counseling, care, and a shot at redemption. For Judge Eric Goodman, this mission is more than professional — it's personal. 'When I was 19, I lost a good friend of mine to suicide,' Goodman said. 'Over the years, I've lost a number of friends to suicide or drug addiction. Every time that happened, I just wished I had done something.' Now, from the bench, he's doing something big. Just months after taking the gavel in 2009, Goodman noticed a troubling pattern: the same people appearing in his courtroom again and again — many of them homeless, addicted, and living with serious mental illness. Jail, he realized, was not the answer. In February 2023, Goodman partnered with fellow Justice Court Judge Nadia Wood to launch the Las Vegas Municipal Court Mental Health Court Program. Their goal: address the root causes of crime through treatment, not incarceration. 'Sometimes 30 to 40 percent of our jail population is on medication for mental health conditions,' Wood explained. 'The system wasn't built to treat them. This program is.' The program is open to people over 18 with a serious mental health illness and a misdemeanor. Participants must voluntarily commit to a rigorous program involving therapy, case management, medication stabilization, substance abuse treatment, and housing support. So far, 11 participants have completed the program. Many are now off the streets, sober, and in stable housing for the first time in years. But the impact goes beyond the individuals. 'It costs over $100,000 a year to keep someone in jail,' Wood said. 'With our program, it costs between $12,000 to $14,000 a year to have these individuals housed, fed, taken care of, receiving treatment, (and) receiving medication.' For Goodman, graduation days are emotional. 'When I see them graduate and move on with their lives and be successful, it really touches me because I'll always think back to my friend who gave up early in life,' Goodman said. 'That was the end of his life, now these people are changing their lives, and they have a chance for a future.' Goodman and Wood said the program not only saves lives — it makes the community safer. They hope to expand the program in the coming years, reaching more individuals in need — and continuing to shift the justice system from punishment to possibility. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Business Wire
2 days ago
- Business Wire
HSS Research at EULAR 2025 Congress Shows Routine Test Could Enable Faster, More-Effective Personalized Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment
BARCELONA, Spain--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) presented new findings at the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) Annual Meeting that could help pave the way for more personalized treatment for people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by analyzing the cellular composition of synovial fluid inside their joints. RA is a chronic disease characterized by inflammation in the synovium, the tissue that covers the inner surface of the joint cavity. Although usually accompanied by joint pain, swelling and deterioration, the level of inflammation varies from patient to patient, potentially requiring customized treatment plans. 'What is surprising to us is that there are some patients who have clinical remission, yet continue to experience pain and show radiographic progression of the disease with high levels of synovial inflammation, while others have high disease activity with many swollen and tender joints and little inflammation in the synovial tissue' said Susan M. Goodman, MD, rheumatologist at HSS and principal investigator of the study. She explained that even when standard tests suggest the disease is under control, the joint fluid can still show high levels of inflammation. 'By analyzing synovial fluid characteristics, we expected it might give us some insight into the disparity between disease progression and apparent remission,' she added. The team analyzed samples from 64 patients with RA, 90.6% of whom were women, and with a median age of 65.3 ±11.7 years. The physicians collected synovial fluid samples to analyze and compare with the synovial tissue biopsy counterpart, which defines the inflammatory profile of the disease. Dr. Goodman and the team measured the total white blood cell count, as well as the percentage of neutrophils, lymphocytes and monocytes in each synovial fluid sample. They then compared those findings to two additional key pieces of clinical information: the patient's disease activity (such as joint swelling, pain, etc.) and the level of inflammation seen in the tissue. Their analysis revealed that the total white blood cell count in the synovial fluid did not correlate with disease activity, however, the counting of individual cell types gave insights into tissue inflammation. As such, a higher percentage of neutrophils was associated with increased inflammation in the tissue, while a higher percentage of monocytes was associated with lower inflammation in the tissue. Because the white blood cell counts in synovial fluid provided distinct and different information from standard disease activity measures and correlated well with tissue inflammation, the team believes it could help guide the selection of personalized anti-inflammatory therapies more efficiently. 'Synovial fluid extraction is already a routine part of care, but until now, it has never been used to analyze disease state in this way,' explained Dr. Goodman. In other words, the approach could be adopted without placing additional burden on healthcare providers. "It's important that we're gaining new methods of investigating patients with RA,' Dr. Goodman added, 'since choosing the appropriate therapy and choosing it in an efficient way is clearly the best way to achieve the best outcomes.' According to Dr. Goodman, the next phase of this study, led by HSS rheumatologists Melanie H. Smith, MD, MPH, and Dana Orange, MD, MS, will look at both the proteomics and genetics of the cells within the fluid with more molecular and immunologic techniques, with the goal of finding even more clinically relevant and important information. Poster details Title: Can synovial fluid features be used to predict synovial tissue pathotype? Authors: Susan M. Goodman, Michael Parides, Solana Cushing, Daniel Ramirez, Edward DiCarlo, Rebecca B. Blank, Laura Donlin, Anna Helena Jonsson, Amit Lakhanpal, Bella Mehta, Dana Orange, Melanie Smith. Abstract n°: 2057 Presentation: June 12 th About HSS HSS is the world's leading academic medical center focused on musculoskeletal health. At its core is Hospital for Special Surgery, nationally ranked No. 1 in orthopedics (for the 15th consecutive year), No. 3 in rheumatology by U.S. News & World Report (2024-2025), and the best pediatric orthopedic hospital in NY, NJ and CT by U.S. News & World Report 'Best Children's Hospitals' list (2024-2025). In a survey of medical professionals in more than 20 countries by Newsweek, HSS is ranked world #1 in orthopedics for a fifth consecutive year (2025). Founded in 1863, the Hospital has the lowest readmission rates in the nation for orthopedics, and among the lowest infection and complication rates. HSS was the first in New York State to receive Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Service from the American Nurses Credentialing Center five consecutive times. An affiliate of Weill Cornell Medical College, HSS has a main campus in New York City and facilities in New Jersey, Connecticut and in the Long Island and Westchester County regions of New York State, as well as in Florida. In addition to patient care, HSS leads the field in research, innovation and education. The HSS Research Institute comprises 20 laboratories and 300 staff members focused on leading the advancement of musculoskeletal health through prevention of degeneration, tissue repair and tissue regeneration. In addition, more than 200 HSS clinical investigators are working to improve patient outcomes through better ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat orthopedic, rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. The HSS Innovation Institute works to realize the potential of new drugs, therapeutics and devices. The HSS Education Institute is a trusted leader in advancing musculoskeletal knowledge and research for physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, academic trainees, and consumers in more than 165 countries. The institution is collaborating with medical centers and other organizations to advance the quality and value of musculoskeletal care and to make world-class HSS care more widely accessible nationally and internationally.
