Criminal Law

More on Panetti Ruling

Posted on April 03, 2008
In his order denying Scott Panetti's Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, Judge Sparks further ordered that Panetti's execution shall be stayed pending the outcome of the appeal in this case.Here's more on the ruling from The Austin Chronicle ("Panetti Sane Enough to Die," April 4, 2008):"Texas death row inmate Scott Panetti is 'seriously mentally ill' and has been for some time ? in fact, as U...

Mental Health Courts

Posted on April 01, 2008
Last week (March 26, 2008), National Public Radio's "News & Notes" featured commentary on mental health courts from Judge Lynn Toler. Listen to the segment: "Mental Health: How Do Courts Deal with Mental Health Issues."

Scott Panetti Deemed Competent to Be Executed

Posted on March 28, 2008
AFP reports that Judge Sam Sparks once again has found Scott Panetti competent to be executed ("Schizophrenic death row man in Texas on path to execution," March 27, 2008). The judge ruled that Panetti possessed sufficient rational understanding of the reason for his execution...

Coverage of Arguments in Indiana v. Edwards

Posted on March 27, 2008
Oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court case of Indiana v. Edwards took place yesterday, March 27, 2008. According to scotusblog, "The core issue in Indiana v. Edwards (07-208) is whether states are constitutionally free to require that accused individuals have a higher level of mental capacity to represent themselves than is required for them simply to be put on trial with a lawyer at their side...

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Op-Ed on the Issue of Self Representation

Posted on March 26, 2008
Jonathan Turley, a professor of law at George Washington University, comments on the Ahmad Edwards case (Indiana v. Edwards) in an op-ed that appeared today in the Los Angeles Times ("A fool and his lawyer," March 26, 2008). He too cites the case of Scott Panetti to illustrate the tremendous harm that can result when defendants' with severe mental illness are allowed to represent themselves...

More on Self Representation

Posted on March 26, 2008
Here's more on the case of Ahmad Edwards, from the National Law Journal (March 17, 2008, "Right to counsel probed by justices"). The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments on the case today."Ahmad Edwards was arrested in July 1999 when, after resisting apprehension by a security guard for shoplifting shoes, he drew and fired a gun, injuring an onlooker...

Should Inmates with Severe Mental Illness Be Allowed to Represent Themselves?

Posted on March 25, 2008
Tomorrow, March 26, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider the case of Ahmad Edwards, a man with a history of mental illness who was found competent to stand trial but was not allowed to represent himself as he requested. Numerous death penalty cases have involved issues related to competency to stand trial; the Scott Panetti case in particular (cited in the article below) raises the issue of self representation by those with long histories of mental illness...

"The Prison Show"

Posted on March 19, 2008
Last week while in Houston, I had the privilege of appearing on Ray Hill's "The Prison Show", which has been broadcast on Houston Pacifica radio station KPFT 90.1 FM weekly since March 1980. Here's a description of the program:"During the first hour of the program, Ray and the gang, and occasionally a special guest, discuss related current issues and review the week's mailbag...

Updates on Federal Legislation re Mental Illness

Posted on March 17, 2008
From the Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project:"On March 6, 2008, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee passed S. 2304, the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement Act (MIOTCRA). The legislation, introduced last year by Sens...

Psychological Evaluation Ordered for John Rubio

Posted on March 17, 2008
Here's an update on the case of John Rubio, from the Houston Chronicle ("Mental tests for man accused in slayings," March 14, 2008):"A man accused of killing and beheading his common-law wife's three children should undergo a psychological evaluation but not tests to determine if he's mentally retarded, a judge has ordered...

TN Death Row Inmate Receives New Trial

Posted on March 17, 2008
On March 7, 2008, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the conviction and death sentence of Richard Taylor. The court's ruling grants Taylor a new trial due to a variety of constitutional errors at his original trial. These errors include the denial of his constitutional right to counsel at a pre-trial competency hearing, the failure of the trial court to hold a competency hearing during the trial, and the failure of the trial court to appoint advisory counsel...

Upcoming Presentations in Houston

Posted on March 11, 2008
This Thursday, March 13, 2008, at 6:00 PM, I will speak on the topic of ?Prevention, Not Punishment: Prohibiting the Death Penalty for Offenders with Severe Mental Illness? at the Montrose Library, 4100 Montrose, Houston, Texas. Contact Nancy Bailey at 281-933-4925 for more information...

Collaborative Grants Available

Posted on March 10, 2008
The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), U.S. Department of Justice, has released its solicitation for fiscal year 2008 applications for Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program grants. The program was authorized by the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2004 (MIOTCRA) and promotes coordination among criminal justice, juvenile justice, mental health, and substance abuse agencies...

Likely Insanity Defense in Upcoming Death Penalty Trial

Posted on March 07, 2008
According to the Houston Chronicle ("Insanity plea likely in officer's shooting death," March 6, 2008), Juan Quintero, the man facing a capital murder charge in the 2006 shooting death of Houston police officer Rodney Johnson, might plead not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI)...

Experts Study Neuroscience Use in Courts

Posted on March 03, 2008
That's the title of an article from the Associated Press, which appeared March 2, 2008 in The Washington Post:"When Peter Braunstein was put on trial last year for a twisted Halloween torture attack, his lawyers used a visual aid to suggest that his actions were the product of mental illness...

New Sentencing Hearing for Charles Mines

Posted on February 28, 2008
The Houston Chronicle/Associated Press reports that Charles Mines, who has been on death row since 1989, has received a new sentencing hearing ("Longtime Texas death row inmate wins new sentencing trial," February 27, 2008):"A death row inmate who killed an 80-year-old woman with a claw hammer nearly two decades ago will get a new sentencing trial because jurors didn't properly consider mental illness when they decided he should be executed, an appeals court has ruled...

Stop Criminalizing the Mentally Ill

Posted on February 28, 2008
That's the title of this week's column by Dr. María Félix-Ortiz ("Society, and judges, should stop criminalizing the mentally ill," San Antonio Express-News, February 26, 2008). Dr. Félix-Ortiz reinforces the fact that people with mental illness are not inherently prone to violence; in reality, they are more likely to be the victims of crime...

"Mentally ill unfairly portrayed as violent"

Posted on February 26, 2008
That's the title of an editorial that appeared yesterday in The Boston Globe, by Dr. Ronald Pies, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Tufts University. Dr. Pies cites several studies that illustrate the link (or lack thereof) between mental illness and violent behavior...

The Role of Medications (or Lack Thereof) in Recent Acts of Violence?

Posted on February 21, 2008
An editorial that appeared earlier this week in the Dallas Morning-News ("Guns aren't only thing to blame in tragedies," February 18, 2008) sheds some light on why those suffering from mental illness might choose to stop taking their medications:"With clockwork predictability, we zeroed in on the source of the weapons used by the gunman in last week's appalling slaughter in an Illinois campus classroom...

Evidence of Severe Mental Illness Often Not Enough to Prove "Insanity"

Posted on February 21, 2008
Here's another article from the New York Times regarding the case of David Tarloff, a man with severe mental illness who is charged with second-degree murder in the slashing death of Kathryn Faughey, an Upper East Side therapist ("Actions Considered Insane Often Don?t Meet the Standards of New York?s Legal System," February 20, 2008)...

New Questions Surround Involuntary Commitment Laws in New York

Posted on February 21, 2008
"The arrest of David M. Tarloff, a man with a long history of mental illness, in the fatal stabbing of a psychologist in Manhattan has revived discussion on the thorny issue of how people with severe mental illnesses can be helped, even when they resist that assistance," according to the New York Times ("Murder Case Focuses New Attention on Mental Illness Treatment," February 19, 2008)...

New Mental Health Public Defenders in Bexar County

Posted on February 18, 2008
Thanks to Sandrine Ageorges for passing this along, from the San Antonio Express-News ("County hires 4 new public defenders," February 15, 2008):"Bexar County officials have hired four mental health public defenders. Officials said Anne Mulligan and Kevin McManus will be civil public defenders, representing people at hearings that determine whether they should be committed to the state mental hospital...

More on Panetti Competency Hearing

Posted on February 14, 2008
Here are excerpts from an article by Jordan Smith that appeared in the Austin Chronicle ("Legal Battle Over When Prisoner Is Sane Enough for Execution Bounces Back Here," February 15, 2008), regarding last week's hearing on Scott Panetti's competency to be executed:"The long, sad case of Texas death row inmate Scott Panetti landed back in federal district court last week, where Judge Sam Sparks is tasked with deciding whether Panetti is indeed sane enough to be executed...

Addressing Texas' Overpopulated Prisons

Posted on February 12, 2008
Last week at a statewide symposium organized by the Bexar County Commissioner, policymakers and criminal justice experts discussed ideas for addressing Texas' overpopulated prisons (Texas has the second largest-prison population in the country). Several panelists expressed concern about the increased criminalization of non-violent offenders with mental illness, which has resulted in severe overcrowding at local jails...

Competency Hearing for Scott Panetti

Posted on February 11, 2008
Last week Federal District Judge Sam Sparks presided over a hearing to determine whether Scott Panetti is competent to be executed. In June 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked Panetti's execution, ruling that the Fifth Circuit Court of Criminal Appeals had used "an improperly restrictive test" in determining Panetti's competency...

Mental Illness and Violence

Posted on February 07, 2008
The February 2008 issue of Psychiatric Services focuses on mental illness and violence. It includes such articles as "Perpetration of Violence, Violent Victimization, and Severe Mental Illness: Balancing Public Health Concerns," "Jail Incarceration, Homelessness, and Mental Health: A National Study," and "Risk of Violence by Psychiatric Patients: Beyond the "Actuarial Versus Clinical" Assessment Debate...

Independent Investigation of Death Row Inmate's Suicide

Posted on February 07, 2008
Fort Bend Now reports that the Office of the Inspector General will be conducting an investigation into the suicide of mentally ill death row inmate William Robinson ("Office Of Inspector General To Review Prison Suicide," February 7, 2008). Robinson, 49, was found hanging by a bed sheet on February 1, 2008 in the Jester IV Unit, a mental health unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice...

A Holistic Approach to Offenders with Mental Illness

Posted on February 06, 2008
Here's an op-ed from Judge Nancy Hohengarten that appeared in the Austin American-Statesman ("A way to ensure justice for all", February 5, 2008):"Traditionally, family members of criminal defendants do not discuss cases with the prosecution, but when the defendant is mentally ill, family input is appropriate...

Another Suicide on Texas' Death Row

Posted on February 05, 2008
Allan Turner at the Houston Chronicle reports that another death row inmate in Texas has committed suicide ("Mentally ill killer found hanging in cell," Feb. 4, 2008). William Robinson, who was under psychiatric care for an unspecificied mental illness, had been on death row since 1985...

Caring for Mentally Ill in Jails, Emergency Rooms

Posted on February 04, 2008
The Austin-American Statesman (February 3, 2008) reports that since November, at least 125 depressed, suicidal, or violent people have been sent to emergency rooms in Austin, rather than the state hospital:"Previously, most of those people would have gone to the state hospital, said Dr...

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