Giving Compass' Take:

• In some states like Oregon, criminals who are judged to be insane are known to receive better mental health treatment than an average person suffering from the same illness. Governing magazine addresses this phenomenon.

• It's worth looking at the disparities in prison mental health treatment among different states and how it relates to public safety. According to one report, those who get adequate treatment and are monitored carefully are less likely to commit other crimes. Also: What does this say about our healthcare system if we can't apply the same care to the general population?

• Learn how behavioral science can improve criminal justice.

About 14 percent of state and federal prisoners (about 200,000) and 26 percent of jailed inmates (about 190,000) have serious mental illnesses, according to a report last year by the U.S. Department of Justice. Prison and jail officials don’t have the resources to treat them, and many deteriorate behind bars.

By contrast, in some states those judged to be criminally insane receive better mental health treatment than practically anybody else — including people who have never committed a crime.

This is especially true in Oregon, according to the Treatment Advocacy Center, an Arlington, Virginia, nonprofit that advocates for those with severe mental illness.

Oregon’s Psychiatric Security Review Board oversees the care of the criminally insane from the time they receive the verdict until they are discharged from state care. During that period, which can go on indefinitely for someone serving a life sentence, the board supervises the treatment plan and determines when a person is ready for a less secure facility and, eventually, conditional release.

Read the full article about treatment for the criminally insane by Michael Ollove at Governing magazine.