Laura Murder Case Paper Example

Introduction

In January 2001, Laura Wilcox was gunned down and killed by a man who can have a persistent mental condition. The man guilty for that act had been diagnosed with paranoia and agoraphobia, he had in most cases refused to take his medication and treatment, but he never showed any signs of violence. The shooter after being apprehended was later identified to be Scott Harian Thorpe; Thorpe had neighbours who would refer to him as being reclusive (Bocock & Martin, 2014). Mentally ill individuals that refuse to take their medication should be forced to do so, according to the psychological law, this essay will show why forced medication is the only means that can make them stand trial for their claims.

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Laura's Law was put into action in California as a state law that would allow treatment for the court-ordered outpatient. For a person to be eligible for the program, they must be having severe mental disorder and should have been hospitalised recently for having a history for psychological problems (Hoyer, 2002). In addition to that, they should be facing jail terms, or show acts attempts or threats that indicate they are a possible risk to themselves and others. The Laura Law is backed by an act to add and repeal Article 9 this article in California commences with the section 5345 of Chapter 2 of Part 1 of Division 5 of the institution and welfare code that relates to the mental health (Bocock & Martin, 2014).

Under this article, there is a provision for medication for the mentally ill persons in society and how they should get much needed medical help. Relating to the murder of Laura, if Thorpe and the community had adhered to the provisions of this article may be the crimes that he committed could have been prevented.

The general public see that the system has failed, people have lost their lives and many lives ruined; there has been sad news in the media now and then for cases such as this for far too long. And there should be a well elaborate plan to ensure that people who seem to snap or have mental conditions regardless of how well they behave in public they are a constant threat since they are unpredictable. The legal provisions in article 9 of the California law show how ignorant people are and how best to handle people with mental illness in society.

The killing of Laura

Regarding the murder of Laura Gov. Gray Davis in 2002 passed the bill into law which was referred to as the Assembly Bill 1421. The assembly bill was regarding the killing of Laura and what measures need to be taken to prevent such incidences in the future (Bocock & Martin, 2014). This bill was put into action so that it could allow the judges to give directives to assisted outpatient treatment for perpetrators who had a severe mental condition and failed to understand the gravity of their situation. Thorpe and his neighbours never knew to what extent his state has deteriorated and to what extreme he can act. This was a big mistake as it led to the loss of lives due to the assumption that the society had on Thorpe, though he had a mental disorder he would never be dangerous to anyone.

Thorpe and many other people who have been diagnosed with several disorders making them suffer from a condition called Anosognosia. This is one of the forms of self-preservation and forms a blind spot in the brain of those with a severe mental compromise of the mind. Nonetheless, the government should not let these people walk free after they commit major crimes such as murder. This is because whether they are mentally stable or not a crime has been committed, and justice has to be served. When offenders refuse to take their medication is an indication that despite their condition they are in full realization of what they do. The government should force such people to take forced medication, and once they are stable, they should stand trial for their crimes. If this does not happen more similar cases will arise and the culprits will blame their mental state for acting the way they do, which puts other people at significant risk. Apart from the Laura case, there is another similar case on a mentally disturbed person who had refused treatment in order not to stand trial.

Sell v. United States

Sell, who was a petitioner, was initially found by the Federal Magistrate Judge of having an extended history of the mental condition, but despite his state of mind the magistrate still found him capable of standing hearing on accounts of deception and attempted murder and would be unconfined on bail (Meyer & Weaver, 2014). He was ordered full hospitalization in an attempt to decide whether he could regain an improved mental capacity that would allow him to proceed with his hearing. While at the Medical Center, Sell refused to take his antipsychotic medication (Meyer & Weaver, 2014). As a result, the Magistrate ordered a forced administration of the antipsychotic drugs on sale. Regarding the Eighth Circuit, riveting focus on the on accounts of fraud, it was realized that the management had made it a priority to bring Sell to trial, and the treatment was necessary since it would enable Sell participates in his trail. Thorpe also needed psychiatric treatment in the case of Laura due to his mental condition.

Under the framework of Riggins v. Nevada, 504 U.S 127 and Washington v Harper 494 U.S, the government is permitted by the constitution to involuntarily administer any form of medication and especially the antipsychotic drugs with the intentions of rendering a competent defendant who is mentally ill to stand trial for severe criminal charges (Nsna, 2016). According to a survey conducted by Erich and Tilman, on the controversy of forced medication to a psychiatric patient, they found the issue is highly controversial. Erich and Tilman wanted to know the opinion of people on the subject of whether psychiatric patients should undergo forced medication (Nsna, 2016). The Method they used was to extract the aggregated information of concern from the electronic databases on the following factors; kind of coercive measure, admission and legal status, psychiatric diagnosis, sex, age, duration and number of seclusion of a patient

Their results were as follows

The total number of involuntary admissions was 15832. Those who underwent the coercive measure admissions were 976. Entries on seclusion were 579 while the individuals the mechanical treatment admissions were 529.

Findings

From the statistics achieved from the individuals that had taken part in the survey, it was evident that involuntary medication on the mentally ill persons in the society is less frequent and less applied in comparison to mechanical restrictions. According to the findings, it is evident that the mentally ill persons in the community have been given the liberty to decide on whether or not to take their medication. This has been reflected in the case of Laura and that of Sell. In both cases, the culprits were mentally ill and had refused to take their medication. Therefore, this calls for the need to force these people to be prescribed with medicines since they have proven to be of high risk not only to themselves but the society at large (Quinsey, 2016).

The two cases show to make the society take precaution while handling these people since they are capable of committing serious crimes. The findings from the survey are clear and show that the community has the goodwill to accommodate this person. However, they lack the knowledge as to what extent they should be entertained. The courts and the judiciary system as a whole should provide clear guidance as to what lengths can a person be forced to take medication so that people do not violate the rights of the mentally ill. There should be well outlined legal standards that can help the society be in a better position not to punish but to provide assistance to the mentally ill within the confinements of the law. The survey had its strengths and weakness about the case question. The significant powers were that it was able to put into consideration some parameters such as age, sex, admission, legal status, and psychiatric diagnosis. This enabled to get feedback from a range of options.

The weakness occurred when they failed to conduct interviews which could have given them first-hand information and reliable on electronic databases which can be biased. The two cases discussed above have a high likelihood of happening again in society. The only thing that can be done is setting laws on how to best handle people with mental illnesses and ensure that they take their medication and if they commit serious crimes, they should be culpable regardless of their condition. The best recommendation is setting up laws that would prosecute offenders with mental illnesses. The government, on the other hand, should ensure that is person diagnosed with a mental illness should be taken to special facilities where they will be protected.

Conclusion

The government in its quest to maintain law and foster peace among its people has to do all it takes to punish those who fail to adhere to these objectives. Thorpe and Sell in our case despite being mentally ill were a significant threat to society. Everyone has a right to live, and those intending to take the lives of others should be punished. The cases are a representation of a more significant societal problem that needs to be addressed before things get out of hand. People should be educated on the dangers of involving in crime.

References

Bacon, (2013). New Laws Offer Safeguards against Dangerous Patients and Mentally Ill Criminals. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 118(3), 287. Doi: 10.1097/00005053-195309000-00021

Bocock, L., & Martin, A. (2014). There's something about Lean: A Case Study. 2011 AGILE Conference. doi:10.1109/agile.2011.44

Hoyer, G. (2002). Involuntary hospitalization in contemporary mental health care. Some (still) unanswered questions. Journal of Mental Health, 17(3), 281-292. doi:10.1080/09638230802156723

Meyer, R. G., & Weaver, C.M. (2014). Law and Mental health: a case-based approach: New York, The Guilford Press.

Quinsy, V. L. (2016). Institutional Violence Among the Mentally Ill. Violence among the Mentally III, 213-235. Doi: 10.1007/978-94-011-4130-7_12