> And if they are having a mental health crisis, they should be able to plea insanity.
"Not guilty by way of insanity" is an incredibly high bar to meet, and it happens very rarely.
What usually happens (in England!!) is that the person is tried, convicted, and sentenced, and then given a hospital order. At that point they stop being a prisoner serving a sentence, they become a patient getting treatment at a low secure, medium secure, or high secure specialist commissioned hospital. I've spoken to patients in low and medium secure units, and they often say they'd prefer to be in prison doing time rather than being in hospital getting treatment.
I have some poorly formed thoughts about the need to set a high bar on criminal convictions, especially when people have made major errors, perhaps driven by mental poor health, rather than criminal intent. Mens rea and actus reus are a pretty important combination. And it's not a binary prosecute vs do nothing, there are a range of community restoration measures and protections that can be put in place leaving criminal prosecution for unrepentant criminals.
"Not guilty by way of insanity" is an incredibly high bar to meet, and it happens very rarely.
What usually happens (in England!!) is that the person is tried, convicted, and sentenced, and then given a hospital order. At that point they stop being a prisoner serving a sentence, they become a patient getting treatment at a low secure, medium secure, or high secure specialist commissioned hospital. I've spoken to patients in low and medium secure units, and they often say they'd prefer to be in prison doing time rather than being in hospital getting treatment.
I have some poorly formed thoughts about the need to set a high bar on criminal convictions, especially when people have made major errors, perhaps driven by mental poor health, rather than criminal intent. Mens rea and actus reus are a pretty important combination. And it's not a binary prosecute vs do nothing, there are a range of community restoration measures and protections that can be put in place leaving criminal prosecution for unrepentant criminals.