NationStates Jolt Archive

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060202/NEWS03/602020646/1005

State psychiatrists say a Troy man who bludgeoned and mutilated his mother to death in 2000 should be released from an institution, placed in a group home and eventually returned to the community because his mental illness is in remission.

Oakland County prosecutors, however, plan to fight his release at a hearing Wednesday.

...

Eric Hufnagel, chief executive officer of the National Schizophrenia Foundation, based in Lansing, said statistics show people who suffer from the disease are no more violent than the general public. Violence among those with schizophrenia is more likely to occur soon after patients are released from the hospital and if there are substance abuse problems.

"I don't think that it's fair to assume that that is something that is going to repeat itself," he said. "I know of people who committed an act of violence once and never have again."

Is there any sanity left in the world? :confused: I wonder, what if this illness of his makes a mysterious comeback...can they guarantee he won't do something like that again?

If he's really viewed safe for society (as they said: "But he is not a danger") why shouldn't he be released?
It'll be like me saying: "There's a possibility that Europa Maxima might kill someone. Lets lock him up." since that's too a possibility.

It is unsettling but we have no choice but to trust the doctors are competent enough to know if his illness is truly gone. It is the consequence of juries agreeing to insanity defenses, the criminal sometimes gets out of the asylum faster then he would have from prison.

If he's really viewed safe for society (as they said: "But he is not a danger") why shouldn't he be released?
It'll be like me saying: "There's a possibility that Europa Maxima might kill someone. Lets lock him up." since that's too a possibility.
Yet he has killed someone and has severe mental issues. He killed his mother. What is to ensure he doesn't have another fit and kill someone else? And he is viewed as safe. Can the psychiatrists prove this or is it just their view?

There are no guarantees of anything in this world. Anyone can become a danger to somebody else, anyone can develop an illness. That doesn't mean we all should be locked up. Same thing in this case, if he crime was a consequence of a mental illness and this illness is in remission, he should be released. He should also be kept under treatment, of course, but released.

There are no guarantees of anything in this world. Anyone can become a danger to somebody else, anyone can develop an illness. That doesn't mean we all should be locked up. Same thing in this case, if he crime was a consequence of a mental illness and this illness is in remission, he should be released. He should also be kept under treatment, of course, but released.
Lets just hope he hasn't been misdiagnosed as mentally fit for social cohabitation.

No, they have to rehabilitate him and release him, otherwise you wouldn't have a sequel. Remember Psycho? That ran and ran.