This is a post for ClinkShrink, but she's so busy lately that I thought I'd stick it up.
So in Maryland, to the best of my knowledge (and I could be wrong) we have this idea that if someone is criminally insane and needs hospitalization, they should probably stay in the hospital. I'm not aware that forensic facilities take people on field trips. Like I said, I could be wrong, I don't treat inpatients and I don't work with designated forensic patients. The piece below caught my attention, it's from The Seattle Times:
On Thursday, Phillip Arnold Paul, who had been committed after being found not guilty by reason of insanity in the slaying of an elderly woman, disappeared during a field trip to the Spokane County Interstate Fair with 30 other Eastern State Hospital patients and 11 staff members. The escape prompted an extensive manhunt that ended Sunday when Paul, 47, surrendered to authorities near Goldendale, Klickitat County, about 180 miles from the fair.
It was the second time that Paul had escaped from state custody.
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The photo, by the way, is of a cow at the Maryland State Fair, and has nothing to do with the story of the escapee from the state hospital in Spokane. I just like cows.
8 comments:
If you want to be an insanity acquittee it helps to have the nickname "Coyote".
trips through a levels system. You have to have followed the program for x amount of days to get a green wrist band before you can go bowling etc.
wow that cut some of my comment. It's supposed to say that here in south carolina, they do
If he was really insane when he did the killing, shouldn't he just be treated like any other patient? On the other hand, if we want to punish him it makes sense to keep him in jail. It's a dilemma. I think few people believe insanity acquittees are truly not guilty.
As the mom of a 20 year old son with schizophrenia I wonder could he of been insane at the time of the crime and yet sane enough, months later, with treatment, been well enough to go to on the trip?Maybe there should be a punishment/penalty if/when the person becomes sane again.
I think when he was really insane, then he should be treated like any other patient in the hospital.
Perhaps it's telling that he "escaped." I don't believe that's the usual for patients on a trip. And he escaped twice? Usually patients who are dangerous/ potentially dangerous are kept on locked units if they are elopement risks.
Community outings in general are a big no-no at the mental hospital where I work. Sex offenders are kept in a separate building and to my knowledge they're only allowed to go outside for a supervised walk. In a different building is one patient who was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and he is allowed to earn certain privileges but he is not allowed to attend a community outing, nor is any patient.
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