‘House of Cards:’ Mental health crisis in Florida’s criminal justice system

The Orange County Jail has quietly become one of the largest mental health providers in Central Florida—highlighting a growing crisis inside the state’s criminal justice system. Roughly one in five inmates in Florida jails is being treated for mental illness. And when some defendants are ruled incompetent to stand trial or found not guilty by reason of insanity, the law often requires treatment rather than incarceration. But with limited space in state-run mental health facilities, some are ultimately released back into the community under supervision.