Regarding the article, “Federal trial to tackle state’s competency wait lists”: I think we’re missing the real point when talking about length of waits in jail for persons undergoing competency restoration. Think about it: a person living with a mental illness or chemical dependency due to an attempt to self-medicate, commits a crime due to that illness — then once arrested and entering the law, justice and corrections systems is stabilized, medically treated for the conditions and medicated to the point that they can legally be considered competent to face the charges/stand trial under law for a crime committed when they were in effect, incompetent due to that illness — does anyone see anything morally wrong about this process?!
The concept of competency restoration was a developed at an earlier time when mental illness was not understood to “be” an illness or when we were less aware that self-medication was a way for those living with mental illness to cope with that illness, and that people living with these issues belonged in treatment, not jail or prison — this due in large part to the lack of understanding by society in general about the subject and the inadequacy of services and programs to help those living with mental illness and/or chemical dependency issues; thus, jails and prisons becoming de facto mental health/chemical dependency alternatives. Again, does anyone see anything morally wrong about all of this?!
In the future our descendants will look back at our time and consider justice concepts like competency restoration to be part of the mental health “dark ages,” akin to how we look at the time of the Inquisition, the rack, the iron maiden, finger screws, etc.
Jim Bloss
Monroe
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