Since insanity is defined so arbitrarily, lawyers can protect their clients from their punishments with relative ease by dragging out the legal process for years at a time by using the insanity defense. To be protected with the insanity defense in many states, a criminal must take the M'Naghten test: failure to determine right from wrong deems the criminal insane (Cornell University Law School). Although some argue that people with mental illnesses cannot be held accountable for their actions, the greater concern should be for the overall safety for The United States of America because criminals who plead insanity can be a danger when released, legal definitions of insanity vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, Supreme Court has upheld four states' abolishing of insanity defense, and there is incomplete research on insanity. Shafer !2 Insane criminals who are found not guilty by reason of insanity are sent to mental hospitals to rehabilitate and treat their illness. The problem is that the criminals who are sent to a hospital and become "cured" could be a danger to society.
This principle applies regardless of whether the medical care is provided by governmental employees or by private medical staff under contract with the government. Restrictions on prisoners’ access to publications cannot be arbitrary; they must be “reasonably related to legitimate penological interests.” That said, in practice, courts often will accept the judgment of prison authorities in deciding whether censoring a publication is reasonable. Over the last two decades corrections systems have increasingly relied on solitary confinement as a prison management tool – even building entire institutions called “supermax prisons” where prisoners are held in conditions of extreme isolation, sometimes for years or decades. But solitary confinement jeopardizes our public safety, is fundamentally inhumane and wastes taxpayer dollars. We must insist on humane and more cost-effective methods of punishment and prison management.
Edward Romero Professor Blay AJ 101 22 Oct 2014 Role of punishment in the Criminal Justice System Since the birth of our country non-law abiding citizens have plagued our society which led to the creation and development of our criminal justice system that administers punishment for any crimes committed with-in our society. Punishment for crimes committed is utilized by the criminal justice system as a deterrence that can result in less crimes being committed in the future. The criminal justice system ensures that the correct punishment handed down to a defendant is appropriate for the crime committed which in turn shows future lawbreakers that their crimes will not be tolerated and will be dealt with appropriately. Depending on the crime committed, the evidence collected and how it is presented to a jury of our peers the defendant is usually sentenced to incapacitation (incarceration/capital punishment) or rehabilitation. The criminal justice system ensures that everyone that commits a crime is punished as a result of the crime they commit.
Yet, why does one get away with it and another does not? Depending on the severity of their illness and the intensity of the crime, individuals with a mental illness who commit a crime should not be convicted, but they should be hospitalized if they are a threat to society. The question that most people ask when proposed this question is: who is considered mentally ill? To clarify, there are two prevailing legal tests to determine whether or not a defendant is legally insane. According to Terry Lenamon, expert Criminal Trial Attorney, the first, and most popular, is the “M’Naghten test.” Lenamon says, “Under M’Naghten, the determining factor is whether or not the defendant was (1) able to understand what he (or she) was doing at the time of the crime due to some “defect of reason or disease of the mind” or, (2) if he (or she) was aware of what they were doing, that he (or she) nevertheless failed to comprehend or understand that what they were doing was wrong” (Lenamon).
Effective and efficient management is needed most in times of riots and emergency situations. In order to diminish riots within correctional facilities and reduce the violence amongst inmates and staff, management must have clear policies and procedures, open lines of communication, fair inmate disciplinary process, and ability to hire and train quality staff. Analysis Diminishing Riots A news reporter from KCRA had an interview with a confidential inmate informer that was present when the riot occurred, “ the riot was sparked by Asian and Southern Hispanic inmates going back and forward” said the informer. As race relations become a more important factor in the modern penal system, administrators must go in the direction to reduce potential destructive results. One correctional management technique to relieve racial tension, which may be used, is the proper classification of inmates.
Modern day mental health professionals have become concerned with the increasing number of people with mental illness in jails and prison. This phenomenon is not recent and it did not transpire overnight. Although health care professionals shedding light on this situation is relatively recent. Numerous reports display a large population of mentally ill people in the American jail and prison system. If anyone is going to attempt to solve this problem they must first understand the questions at hand which is why individuals with mental illness are committing illegal actions to land themselves in jail or prison and why are these individuals not receiving treatment in hospitals or other psychiatric settings.
Objectives of Punishment within the U.S. Corrections System CJA492 January 28, 2013 Melissa Andrewjeski The state and federal objectives of punishment are the consequence or penalty for a crime that was committed. The punishment is to ensure that the offender is adequately punished for the offence. The punishment is to prevent the crime by deterring the offender and other persons from committing similar offences. In other words the punishment needs to be severe enough to make the offender not want to reoffend. The punishment is to protect the community from the offender by keeping them off the street, and trying to reconcile if this person wants to change for the better, in essence to also promote the rehabilitation option to the offender which could help denounce the conduct of the offender, but ultimately for the offender to recognize the harm done to the victim of the crime and the community.
The fact that imprisonment brings with it psychological effects to those incarcerated, suggests prison officers should be able to have at least a basic understanding of social and mental issues. Full time prison staff will be best off trained in an array of skills like those of social workers. Being able to relate to prisoners and being more equipped in handling the stress prisoners endure could lower the relative high numbers of suicides and attempted suicides. Prison staff have a duty to protect those incarcerated in their prison. Cook (2005) argues that too many people find prison intolerable and are dying as a direct consequence of the
Physician assisted suicide should be a right given to all people who are suffering from a painful, degenerative, or deadly condition. Anyone who might never enjoy the luxuries of living a happy and healthy life again. Though several ongoing debates are against physician-assisted suicide, ethicists are still not the one who is responsible to make this decision. Patients have the right to free will and human dignity that gives them the right to choose physician assisted suicide. Being able to have this choice allows the patient to maintain some control over their devastating situation.
Cases of juveniles being abused both physically and sexually as well as the suffering they endure in adult prisons have been rampant in the world today. Luck of proper facilities, information and law enforcement officers being left at their own discretion to decide on where to hold a minor when they are arrested have largely contributed to this problem. The question that everybody asks is how do you handle underage criminals who are a threat to public safety without exposing them to more harm? Statistics show that majority of the victims who commit suicides in jail are underage. As much as jails are meant to correct bad behaviors, there is a loophole when it comes to distinction between juvenile and adult jail.