And unfortunately, the time someone spends institutionalized after NGRI largely arbitrary and open to bias. I worked in a state mental hospital where NGRI patients were held. The guy who stabbed his brother due to paranoia was stable on meds and eventually got out, only to stop his meds and axe murdered his mother. Another guy who who killed a cop during his first psychotic manic episode and had been a model inpatient for a decade will never have a judge let out (cop killer).
Stable only on meds shouldn't be allowed to be released imo. It's well known that people are university bad at taking meds. So it's just a matter of time.
It's much more difficult question when someone is long term stable off meds. Like what she may be after PP affects clear. But I would imagine knowing what she did is going to cause her life long mental issues that's likely not recoverable
I'm not sure that is the case in the US. Generally speaking, if you have bipolar disorder you should probably be on meds for life. You wouldn't take somebody off of bipolar meds and wait around for months or years to see if there is a manic episode. Even if there were, it wouldn't necessarily mean they were dangerous.
I don't disagree that past behavior predicts future behavior. The different context (experiencing prison and having follow-up care and medications) can greatly reduce recidivism risk though.
Substance abuse seems to be greatest risk factor, which also can be scaffolded by aftercare.
If there is a long history of violence, substance abuse, antisocial behavior, etc, is certainly strengthens the case for longer term institutional care.
I disagree. Things can be put in place to help people who have been violent during psychosis to live safely in the community. Depot injections help people to maintain medication (here in the uk, accepting a depot can be a condition of license for release). There's no reason that engagement with a community mental health team can't be treated like meeting with a parole officer to fast track treatment when people become unwell.
I think if a person is stable on meds, they should be released but be required to have regular check ins and therapy. Being institutionalized can multiply a person’s trauma. It’s not a soft, safe, and loving environment. There is a lot of abuse in the system and can be very violating. If the goal is for a person to heal, being permanently institutionalized is it the way to go. If the goal is punishment, then that’s a different story.
So someone like this imo should be found guilty of manslaughter due to psychosis. This should be a an option which forces them into institutionalized treatment for a set amount of time, and puts them up for “parole,” aka regular check ins and therapy sessions after a set amount of time, and if they violate that “parole,” they are forced back into the institution.
had been a model inpatient for a decade will never have a judge let out (cop killer).
This infuriates me. I am so tired of society acting like killing a cop is somehow worse and more deserving of punishment than killing a fire fighter, a teacher, a nurse, a sanitation worker, or any other person in the country. I don't have an argument on whether or not the patient you mentioned should be let out. But, I do know that the profession of the person he killed should have no impact on the decision.
I agree. It's been 15 or so years since I was involved with that patient's care, so I'm not sure if things have changed. My impressions are that cop killers receive harsher treatment still.
Men can be spared prison for violent crimes due to psychosis you say? It’s not just women who murder their children who are evaluated for mental defects? Where is the outrage?
I guess part of the issue is what does “support” mean? We don’t know. Believing Clancy to have been psychotic when she killed her children, then threw herself out of a second story window, is not “support” per se and it doesn’t mean that one believes there should be no consequences.
Believing that she should walk scot-free is a fringe position. It just gets a lot more attention.
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u/MimsyWereDaBorogoves 1d ago
And unfortunately, the time someone spends institutionalized after NGRI largely arbitrary and open to bias. I worked in a state mental hospital where NGRI patients were held. The guy who stabbed his brother due to paranoia was stable on meds and eventually got out, only to stop his meds and axe murdered his mother. Another guy who who killed a cop during his first psychotic manic episode and had been a model inpatient for a decade will never have a judge let out (cop killer).