Court Case on Mental Health Law - Assignment Example

? Running Head/ Mental Health and Law Court Case on Mental Health Law. Mental Health and Law 2 Keywords: (The customer specifically asked for no Abstract). Mental health and Law 3 Introduction Ever since the dawn of civilization cases of infanticide are a part of the recorded history. For the sake of knowledge and education it is pertinent to remember that infanticide for ages was practised in ancient Babylonia, Greece, Rome, India, China and the Middle East. In the beginning infanticide was considered less of a crime and more of a misdemeanour and this exercise continued unabated till the landmark judgement in an English Court in 1843 and valid today in the state of Texas. In most cases female infanticide was a tradition among tribes of Arabia and India. Meaning thereby that the female child, due to many social, economic and even political reasons, among which poverty can be cited as one female infanticide was in vogue in many diverse cultures around the world. Tribal customs, traditions and even religion played an important part in the continuation of this inhumane practice. It is not only limited to the pagan era but also upheld by the Catholic faith.” Overlaying”: the crime of smothering an infant was registered in England as a minor offence. In Europe till the later quarter of the nineteenth century this tradition of treating infanticide as a minor offence flourished to the detriment of the whole social fabric to the rights and defense of the unfortunate mothers suffering from some mental illness. Before I take up the case that I have chosen to write this paper on there are certain things that need clarification. First, there is lack of good research collection as the experts refer to as collection of “systematic data” (Oberman, M., 2009) in this particular field, mental health vis-a-vis law. Second, there is no up to date legislation and scanty precedent for the Mental Health and Law 4 courts to look into and to decide a case. Third, because of the absence of the above two, the women who suffer from mental and/or psychiatric illness are ill-treated by the present laws that weigh heavily against them. In the case of civil proceedings, especially in the child custody, these same laws, specifically those pertaining to psychotic state of the offender, specially the postpartum syndrome and the plea of insanity that is taken up as the defense against such charges weigh heavily against the mother while in criminal proceedings once again the mother/offender is given little or no advantage/benefit of the doubt. According to the authorities in the field of psychiatry, for example individuals like Oberman in spite of the non and/or little availability of “systematic data”, and the many hindrances in its collection, typical or common typology/classifications of filicide are, as follows (Spinelli,2003). 1. Neonaticide. 2. Abuse related filicide. 3. Filicide due to neglect. 4. Assisted coerced filicide. 5. Purpose filicide in which the women acted alone. The landmark case that I write this paper on is Yates vs. Texas. This paper gives a detailed analysis of the psychological and legal perspectives about maternal filicide or in more simple words mothers that kill their children. On the one hand a heinous crime as according to the introduction to the book Readings in Criminology, Women, Violence and Media ( 2009) affords,”…opportunities to investigate gendered construction of violence. (X) Mental Health and Law 5 While on the other hand a sympathetic look into the very intimate nature of the crime or what is presently construed as crime and the real reasons that perpetrate this offense have been in the past and are still completely neglected. One of the prime causes of maternal filicide is the postpartum illness __ a hormonal misbalance that causes in most severe cases hallucinations and episodes of memory loss. But there is a big gap or rather a chasm between the available medical literature and up to date laws/legislation pertaining to maternal filicide resulting in miscarriage of justice on many scores. In the year 2001, Andrea Pia Yates, a devoted and loving mother and a trained nurse and competent housewife, drowned her five children in the bathtub of her Houston Texas house. This sent shock waves throughout the nation. The most pertinent question being asked at that time was why Yates, a mother who took care of her children more than an average mother does, so because she home schooled her children, kill them? Her medical record showed that she had a long history of mental sickness including previous postpartum episodes as she was hospitalized several times because she exhibited suicidal tendencies and attempted suicide on more than one occasion. She believed that Satan was directing her to kill her children and if she did not do so her children would be condemned to the fires of hell, surely the unmistakable signs of someone very ill mentally. Finally she succumbed to her mental/psychiatric demons/nemesis and in the year 2001 killed her five children. Mental Health and Law 6 She was tried for the offense of murder. She was found guilty by the jury, but the same jury after further deliberation spared her the death penalty and instead sentenced her to life imprisonment. In any other county, state and majority of federal circuit courts of appeal she would have been set free or may have been handed a minor sentence because of the provisions of the Model Penal Code (MPC)/ American Law Institute Test, but not in Texas where the plea of insanity is judged according to the M’Naghten Test. The Yates vs. Texas attracted a lot of national and international attention. In addition organisations, agencies and authorities concerned with the postpartum syndrome sought (A. Reicher-Rossler & M. Steiner, 2005): …clarification of postpartum DSM-IV diagnostic criteria, improved medical education, guidelines for treatment and consideration of infanticide legislation. Advocates for the mentally ill blamed the inadequacy of the courts, the use of an archaic insanity defense and the troubling nature of expert psychiatric witness whose opinions differ… (88). Though the attorneys both defence and prosecution overwhelmingly agreed that Andrea was psychotic or under the influence of postpartum syndrome, at the time of the occurrence of the crime of killing her children yet she was declared not legally insane and therefore sentenced to death after three and a half hour deliberation by the jury and though the sentence was later turned to life imprisonment there is agreement both in medical and legal circles that overwhelmingly agree that she was sentenced wrongly. The opinion and/or scrutiny of the media and the common man is also same. Mental Health and Law 7 The plea of insanity and/or the insanity defense in majority of the county, state and federal jurisdiction, in short in the majority of the courts in the United States of America is admissible as evidence. The plea of insanity can be the difference between life and death and of simple or minor sentences to life imprisonment. The M’Naghten Test which was the standard used to determine the mental health of Andrea is inherently flawed. Not to go deep into the merits of this case the apparent flaws in M’Naghten Test are two. One, in the present case Yates vs. Texas, over a century half old findings/judgement was applied to a 21st century scenario/case. It is extremely unfortunate and sad that an archaic precedent was used to determine the guilt of infanticide, in this age and time when neuroscience has advanced by leaps and bounds. Second, the M’Naghten Test totally and/or completely depends on the defendant’s cognitive recall of the crime. The psychotic state/behaviour is associated with hallucinations, and amnesia. Hence the reliability and/or the veracity of retrospective and/ or reports in hindsight are highly debatable and controversial. Both of these flaws of this much acclaimed test came under severe scrutiny in Yates vs. Texas and the test was found wanting and out of sync with the present day and time. It is widely held up both in medical and legal circles that the more up to date and more understanding Model Penal Code Test is a better option in cases of maternal infanticide, specifically in the case under discussion Andrea would have faced a lesser sentence. This is so because the MPC approach recognizes and rightly so that mental/psychotic illness may impair the cognitive and volitional functioning of an individual in many different ways. This ambiguity in law and the archaic foundations of the M’Naghten Test, which instead of the MPC is admissible as evidence in the courts in the state of Texas, Andrea Mental Health and Law 8 would never have been found guilty by reason of her psychotic state (postpartum syndrome) during which she committed the crime and the plea of insanity would have favored her. It is a blatant failure on part of the psychiatrics to provide standard diagnostic guidelines for the postpartum syndrome. It is a pitiable state of affairs that after the much hyped advances in medical science in general and psychiatry in particular in the twentieth century, psychiatry has little to offer to the legal system of the United States of America. Another very important aspect of the criminal proceedings in America is the presence and/or procurement of an expert witness. The final outcome of a case in which the plea of insanity is forwarded as defense by the defendant’s attorney is wholly and solely dependent upon the testimony of this very important witness. In such cases a psychiatrist of repute is normally the expert witness. After all said and done the importance and validity of an expert witness cannot be over or under estimated. In fact this testimony can be the difference and can by his expert knowledge save many an innocent individual from being declared guilty. But once again I stress that because of the complex nature of the crime and so little medical literature available that often innocent individuals like Andrea are declared guilty as charged. Whereas if there is more, in depth research done and authentic literature available, Andrea and many like her would be given the benefit of the doubt and spared death and/or life imprisonment. An expert’s testimony/evidence must be founded on strict scientific standards that are upheld by the psychiatrists but the dilemma is that few and those too not very reliable standards exist at present. And ultimately these innocent souls are helpless and defenceless as the experts heavily rely upon out dated medical literature and laws. Mental Health and Law 9 Conclusion: The crime of maternal filicide is intricately and delicately related to the mental health of the mother. As it is a fact that no sane mother could even think or more appropriately even dream of hurting her children, what to say of killing them. Because lack of credible medical literature and enlightened laws, and because of the short comings of the medical professionals on the one hand and the prevalence of old and archaic laws on the other drastic steps need to be taken to make required legislation and to update it with the recent findings by the practising psychiatrists. It is amazingly surprising that there is a complete lack of understanding about the nature of maternal filicide and a lot of steps have to be taken in the right direction to come to terms with this indifferent legislation. Maternal filicide has received very little attention both at the medical and law making level and whatever laws that are enforced today in the United States fail to address this issue amicably. It is because of this callous indifference that many innocent individuals are either sent to the gallows or suffer a life-long prison term. Mental Health and Law 10 References. Cheryl L. Meyer, Oberman, M., White,K., Rone,M., Batra,P.,Prano,T.C. Ed. (2001) Mothers Who Kill Their Children: Understanding the Acts of Moms From Susan Smith to the “Prom Mom”. (NY: NYU Press). P.30-38 Oberman,M. Ed. (2009) Readings in Feminist Criminology, Women, Violence and the Media. (Lebanon: Northern University Press). Riecher-Rossler, A. & Steiner,M. Ed. (2005) Perinatal Stress, Mood and Anxiety Disorders, From Bench to Bedside. (Basel: Karger Publishers). Spinelli, M.G.(M.D.) Ed. (2003) Infanticide: Psylogical and Legal Perspectives on Mothers Who Kill. (Washington,D.C.: American Psychiatric Association). P. XV-9. Read More