Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren was elected Broward County Court Judge in 1997. Judge Lerner-Wren pioneered the first specialized Mental Health Court in the United States, dedicated to the decriminalization of persons with mental illness, and co-occurring disorders.
Broward’s Court, in collaboration with our extraordinary community mental health and criminal justice collaborative has diverted over 23,000 people out of Broward’s jail.
The Court was the model for The American Law Enforcement and Mental Health Project. Which piloted 100 mental health courts across the U.S. (2000).
Judge Wren was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on The President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (2002). She has received many honors including National NAMI, National Council for Behavioral Health, and The HiiiL Foundation, The Hague for Justice Innovation.
Judge Wren is an Adjunct Professor for Nova Southeastern University, College of Psychology and Neuroscience, and Author of “A Court of Refuge: Stories from the Bench of America’s First Mental Health Court.”
