San Francisco's Behavioral Health Court is part of a two-decade-long push in American jurisprudence to find alternative methods to incarcerating people...who are mentally ill or repeat drug-use offenders. The "problem-solving courts," as they are known, emerged in the 1980s with drug courts and are growing out of a recognition that, for some, doing time in prison will not prevent further crime and will be more costly to taxpayers than treatment.

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