Morning Report: Seattle and National News Roundup
Washington officials consider adoption of a “Guilty, but mentally ill” plea
Both Seattle papers have front-page articles today (Dec. 29) on mental health issues in Washington state.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter Carol Smith writes on the “conundrum” facing society when the mentally ill commit crimes.
Smith tells of two cases that highlight the problem.
In one case, a man with schizoaffective disorder has spent 33 years at Western State Hospital’s ward for the criminally insane because a woman died after he knocked her down and she struck her head.
He was charged with second-degree murder, but was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
In the second case, the man shot his pregnant wife five times, killing her and her unborn child.
He was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter and was also found not guilty by reason of insanity.
But, despite the seriousness of his actions, he was released after just five years.
The King County Prosecutor’s Office and the state Department of Corrections has released a report that recommends the state enact a “guilty, but mentally ill” plea to replace the plea of “not guilty by reason of insanity”.
“The new plea, in principle, would identify mentally ill offenders and ensure that they receive treatment in the corrections systems, while at the same time ensuring that they pay for their crimes,” Smith writes.
Smith’s article is one of a Post-Intelligencer series of Special Reports on mental illness issues
To learn more:
- Read Carol Smiths article “Balancing punishment, treatment” in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.’
Lack of community services keeping patients in Western State Hospital
Almost 20 percent of Western State’s patients can’t leave because there is a shortage of housing and services in the community for people with mental illnesses, reports Seattle Times reporter Maureen O’Hagan.
Many of these patients would do better in the community, O’Hagan writes, and while they are hospitalized, patients needing in-patient care can’t get in.
To learn more:
- Read O’Hagan’s article: “Western State Hospital patients waiting to get out“
Category: Health-care Policy, Mental Health
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