2025 Judges & Psychiatrists Leadership Initiative (JPLI) Summit

Hosted by The Council of State Governments Justice Center, the American Psychiatric Association Foundation, and the National Center for State Courts

Please join us for a virtual celebration of and policy discussion with leaders who are improving the lives of people with behavioral health needs in the justice system.

The Judges & Psychiatrists Leadership Initiative Summit will begin with a ceremony for the 2025 recipients of the Judge Stephen S. Goss Memorial Award for Leadership, which recognizes judges and psychiatrists who embody the late Judge Goss’s legacy of compassion, innovation, and collaboration.

After the award ceremony, we’ll host a panel on leveraging what we know about involuntary treatment to improve public safety and health outcomes. The panel of judicial and psychiatric leaders as well as people with lived experience will discuss what positions involuntary treatment policies and practices to help individuals and communities.

This event is open to anyone but intended for people shaping the future of behavioral health and justice reform.

Award Recipients:

• The Honorable T. Luke Barteaux, Judge, Cherokee Nation District Court
• The Honorable Debra H. Lambert, Chief Justice, Kentucky Supreme Court; Chair, Kentucky Judicial Commission on Mental Health (Lifetime Achievement Award)
• Dr. Debra Pinals, Director of Program and Implementation, Behavioral Health and Forensic Programs, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (Lifetime Achievement Award)
• Dr. Katherine Warburton, Medical Director, California Department of State Hospitals

Learn why we’re honoring them.

The Judges and Psychiatrists Leadership Initiative aims to stimulate, support, and enhance efforts by judges and psychiatrists to improve judicial, community, and systemic responses to people with behavioral health needs who are involved in the justice system. Learn more about JPLI.