Hank Ehlies
Decriminalize Mental Illness
An attorney since 1975, Hank Ehlies has a national presence in the litigation and lobbying efforts on behalf of the mentally ill. Twice in two years, by invitation of the parties plaintiffs, he has filed briefs in cases pending before the Supreme Court of the United States that involve the mentally ill and law enforcement. As lead counsel on a number of landmark cases, Hank is a highly regarded resource to lawyers around the country seeking assistance on how best to argue law enforcement cases that deal with the mentally ill.
He is the 2018 recipient of the Streissguth FASD Forensic Institute’s annual FASD Experts’ Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Field of FASD and the Law. He is a 2018 TEDx presenter.
More About Hank Ehlies
Mr. Ehlies began advocating for the mentally ill early in his career after recognizing the inordinate number of individuals with mental illness incarcerated in our nation’s prisons and the high rate of recidivism that occurs among them. He firmly believes jails cannot serve as treatment facilities for mental illness and that using them as such invites a host of maladies. Under this premise, in 2017 he established a national non-profit organization, Council on Law Enforcement and the Mentally Ill (CLEMI), which works to enact just and effective legislation and protocols to protect and serve individuals with mental illness, their caregivers, the law enforcement community and the public.
Mr. Ehlies has a full-time solo practice in Greenville, South Carolina. He has the rare distinction of being published as a practicing attorney in the S.C. Law Review, and has made numerous national and local media appearances in regard to legal case work related to mental illness. He has handled seventeen capital murder cases at various stages. He is the 2018 recipient of the Streissguth FASD Forensic Institute’s annual FASD Experts’ Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Field of FASD and the Law. He is a 2018 TEDx presenter.
2022 National Conference – Speaker
Hank Ehlies has a national presence in the litigation and lobbying efforts on behalf of the mentally ill. He was recently a speaker at the 2022 National Conference for the National Association for Legal Support Professionals.
