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ST. LOUIS • There are more prisoners in the U.S. than any other country in the world.Ìý

Articles and books such as "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander and "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson have raised awareness about that point. Some people just learning about the issues at play , for instance high recidivism.Ìý

Meanwhile, organizations like the Treatment Advocacy Center are trying to capitalize on the wave of public interest on a topic that has been pressure-cooking for decades.  

In response to President Obama's call for legislation soon that would reduce mass incarceration, the advocacy group on Friday publicized five recommendations. Given the group's name, it's not surprising that the points focus on medical treatment, particularly for the mentally ill.

Their suggestions (which have been edited for space):   

• Make the reduction of mentally ill inmates in jails and prisons a national priority. At least one in five jail and prison inmates — and as many as half in some institutions — suffers from disordered thinking caused by severe mental illness.Ìý

• Foster adoption of assisted outpatient treatment laws for people with severe mental illness who struggle with voluntary adherence to treatment.Ìý

• Implement evidence-based practices to divert individuals from the criminal justice system to the mental health system. Fewer than half the U.S. population lives in jurisdictions where the most basic methods of diversion are practiced.

• Restore public psychiatric hospital beds. By 2010 (the latest year for which data is available), 14.1 public hospital beds remained for every 100,000 U.S. residents – the lowest total since 1850, when construction of state psychiatric hospitals began. A minimum of 50 beds per 100,000 people is a consensus target for ensuring minimally adequate availability of inpatient care. .Ìý

• Promote understanding and use of civil commitment laws by funding educational programs for judges, law enforcement, school officials and others in a position to use them.Ìý