Forcing drugs to stand trial......

[SouthernBelle5]

Should Jared Loughner be forcibly drugged? - Health - Health care - More health news - msnbc.com
Jared Lee Loughner, the 22-year-old man who allegedly shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in the head, killed six and wounded a dozen more last January in Tucson, Ariz., has been declared so mentally ill that he can't be tried. While Giffords is now recuperating as an outpatient in Texas, Loughner is in a Springfield, Mo., prison medical facility where federal prison officials have said they'll need to force him to take antipsychotic drugs.
Loughner's defense attorneys are now wrestling over whether he should be given drugs that could tamp down his mental problems, and allow him to stand trial. On Friday, his attorneys filed an emergency motion to stop him from being medicated.


I think this is a very dangerous, slippery slope for the justice system. Anyone agree? or disagree?

[Weinergirl]

This is nothing new. It's like making a schizophrenic take medication. Some people are dangerous to themselves or others if they aren't medicated.

[motherofmolly]

i think it is a slippery slope...you have to drug him for him to be sane enough to stand trial...but if that is the case he is obviously mentally unstable and should be declared as such and put in a facility....

but then you run into the problem that they can only keep them til they are mentally stable...so he shot and killed and wounded but could possibly be free in a few years....free on med's that is. but he could stop taking those med's at any time and be back where we started...killing again.

i dont think anyone should be forced to take med's that the state has determined they should take. look how the state is run anyway. and i have seen some bad doctors that dont have a clue what they are doing.

but our mental health system stinks in the united states. i listened to a talk show on sunday that said los angeles county jail is the largest intake facility for those with mental health issues. something like 50% of those that come in there are mental unstable (not just "i have issues", but those that are "i have issues, should take meds and dont and now i have big issues".)

[434Teresa]

yes being mentally ill to a point that he cant be tried. well then he should be to mentally ill to decied what is best for him in other areas such as meds also.

[Chevelle]

yes being mentally ill to a point that he cant be tried. well then he should be to mentally ill to decied what is best for him in other areas such as meds also.

Agree 100%

[CW&M Mom]

I do see though...like in the case of Elizabeth Smart it was immensely helpful for Wanda Barzee to be forced onto medication. She will never leave prison either...but she was able to help put away Brian David Mitchell...who was faking his mental "insanity". to try and escape being in prison for life.

The key here is that just because your mentally ill does not make one "mentally insane". So it can be to a great benifit to force the medication to help curb the mental illness...BUT obviously there are those that are absolutely mentally insane so not sure what the point is...and IMO That is where Jared Loughner is and will always remain. BUT I'm not even sure if medication can actually always alter mentally insanity.

Also there was the case of Andrea Yates who was found eventually mentally insane, thus will not spend her life in prison...BUT she was put on medication immediatly and them getting her "sane" didn't stop them from finding her insane at the time of the crime. And as far as I can tell will most likely spend her entire life in the mental institution instead.

[Gertie2u]

Got news. Yates was moved to a 'low security' facility years ago. Pretty much someone supervises her taking her meds and that's about it. And in another couple of years of staying on her meds she can probably convince some doctor to declare her treatment successful and be released scott free. That's really the problem I see. Lots of people declared insane put in a few years in court-designated facilities that are mostly pretty much nursing homes, get themselves declared successfully treated, and go on their merry way.

I'm perfectly ok with him refusing drugs and being kept in a very secure mental institution for the rest of his life. I'm ok with them giving him drugs long enough to try him in that I expect they'll just declare he was insane when he did it as long as that means he stays in a secure mental institution for the rest of his life and he can take or not take the meds there as he wishes. I do feel sorry for someone that is truly mentally incompetent, but I don't see how that designation should equal a get out of jail free card. If they've demonstrated they're a danger to themselves or others, they should be secured but cared for the rest of their lives just for the safety's sake.