Developments
Mental Health and Criminal Justice
The Ministry of Home Affairs released an advisory on mental health of prison inmates and staff
The Ministry of Home Affairs along with the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore released two handbooks for managing mental health issues of prison inmates as well as prison staff.
Calcutta High Court Registers Suo Moto Case To Monitor Mentally Ill Prisoners In Terms Of Sheela Barse Case
The Calcutta High Court registered a suo moto case to monitor the mental health and other allied matters of various convicts and undertrial prisoners lodged in various correctional homes in West Bengal and the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Mock Jurors’ Comprehension of Aggravating and Mitigating Factors: The Impact of Timing and Type of Sentencing Phase Instructions.
Through using a real murder trial transcript, this study examines the effects of the simplicity (standard or simplified) and timing of the sentencing phase instructions (before or after sentencing phase testimony) on mock jurors’ understanding of mitigating and aggravating factors.
Nepali Man In Custody For 41 Years: Calcutta High Court Directs Release After Finding Him Mentally Unfit To Face Murder Trial
In a recent Calcutta HC judgement, a two judge bench directed the release after a medical evaluation showed that the accused current mental age in terms of intellectual functioning was around 9 years and 9 months. The accused was first examined in 1982 and had since been in custody for over 40 years awaiting trial.
Bill requiring consideration of autism, mental illness in criminal justice system passes in Virginia
Virginia lawmakers are advancing legislation that would allow defendants to present evidence that they suffer from mental disabilities. The current code bars the courts from hearing such evidence until the sentencing phase except in cases where an insanity plea is raised.
Pakistan’s top court bans execution of people with mental illness
A five-member bench of the Pakistan Supreme Court in a recent judgement ruled that where the defendant is no longer able to appreciate the rationale behind the crime and their death sentence, he or she cannot be executed.
Have notified minimum standards to be maintained by mental health establishments: Centre to HC
In response to a PIL, the Centre informed the court that it has notified the “minimum standards for different categories of mental health establishments and regulations on advance directive”. The PIL stated that many establishments in the country claimed to cure or treat mentally ill people through Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopath but were not registered in accordance with the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017
Defence Of Insanity & Juvenility Ordinarily Ought To Be Raised During Trial
In a recent ruling, a 3-judge bench of the Supreme Court, clarified that pleas of unsoundness of mind under section 84 of IPC or mitigating circumstances like juvenility of age, ordinarily ought to be raised during trial itself. Belated claims undermine the genuineness of the defence’s case.
Mental health, clinical negligence and the illegality defence
The UK Supreme Court revisited the defence of illegality in Ecila Henderson v. Dorset Healthcare University NHS Trust Foundation. The primary issue was whether the claimant (a mental health patient) who had committed a criminal offence as a result of the defendant’s negligence recover losses for their own criminality?
Landmark ruling gives judges power to consider personality disorders
The judgement by the Victoria's Court of Appeal in Brown v The Queen [2020] VSCA 212 will give judges greater scope to consider the role personality disorders play in people's offending Courts may now consider personality disorders as a mitigating factor in the same way a judge or magistrate can find mental illness reduces an offender's moral culpability.
Trial of alleged rapist prompts bid for High Court ruling on mental fitness
This article deals with the recent quashing of Mr Camurtay’s conviction because his mental fitness had not been assessed. The decision now at the centre of a legal controversy could redefine how mental ill health is understood under the Victoria's Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness To Be Tried) Act 1997 which contains six criteria under which a person can be declared unfit to face trial.
Using Premenstrual Syndrome as Criminal Defence Is a Double-Edged Sword
“Using Premenstrual Syndrome as Criminal Defence Is a Double-Edged Sword” deals with the Rajasthan High Court’s verdict where it accepted a defense under Section 84 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and held that she was suffering from unsoundness of mind and labouring under a defect of reason triggered by Premenstrual Dsyphoric Disorder (PMDD).
Florida Supreme Court Destroys Precedent Protecting Mentally Disabled People From Execution
“Florida Supreme Court Destroys Precedent Protecting Mentally Disabled People From Execution” critiques the Florida Supreme Court’s decision in Phillips v. State where the court receded from its earlier decision effectively resuming execution of intellectually disordered prisoners. The Supreme Court upheld its rigid test (Any individual who scores above 70 on an IQ test is, by definition, not intellectually disabled) held that as Phillips conclusively failed to establish that he met the first prong of the intellectual disability standard. Consequently, he was disallowed for a renewed determination on the second prong (adaptive behaviour).
The Supreme Court Should Let the States Define Insanity
“The Supreme Court Should Let the States Define Insanity” is an article on the latest US Supreme Court ruling where it was held that due process does not require States to adopt the moral-incapacity test and allows states to formulate variations to the insanity defense.
Texas Inmate Who Spent Nearly 40 Years on Death Row Is Granted Parole
This article discusses the Supreme Court ruling in Moore v. Texas where Mr. Moore who was intellectually disabled was resentenced to life in prison. The Supreme Court rejected the State’s methodology and remanded the case back to the Court of Criminal Appeals holding that Moore’s claim of intellectual disability be assessed under contemporary standards rather than applying the outdated evidentiary factors laid out in Ex parte Briseno. In review, the Supreme Court observed that the court of appeals had “overemphasized Moore’s perceived adaptive strengths” while the focus under adaptive-functioning inquiry is on adaptive deficits.
Opinion analysis: Court orders new look at death sentence for Alabama inmate with dementia
“Opinion analysis: Court orders new look at death sentence for Alabama inmate with dementia” discusses whether an inmate’s dementia leaves him so incompetent that he cannot be executed in light of the recent ruling in the case of Vernon Madison, prisoner on death row in Alabama.
Victorian prosecutors appeal against Codey Herrmann's sentence for rape and murder of Aiia Maasarwe
In a recent case, the Supreme Court of Victoria held that the Verdins principles [on the consideration and relevance of mental illness during the sentencing phase] would be applicable to personality disorders and operate to reduce, to some extent, moral culpability, and the need for general and specific deterrence.
Should Billy Joe Wardlow Be Executed for a Crime Committed When He Was Eighteen?
“Should Billy Joe Wardlow Be Executed for a Crime Committed When He Was Eighteen?” follows the case of Billie Joe Wardlow and discusses recent neuroscientific research that looks at how young people may react impulsively to being threatened. The article also mentions instances where the US Supreme Court has consulted neuroscience to make legal decisions.
Forensic Psychology in the Courtroom
Govt backs forensic psychology & scientific investigation to reduce crime
This article came out one year ago but it remains the latest development in this area. It states that India is attempting to incorporate forensic psychology into government funded research programs. The long-term goal of this initiative is to improve current legal practises and make prosecution and conviction more effective.
A New Study Challenges the Reliability of Court Psych Exams
This article highlights a study looking at 364 psychological assessments commonly used in the US legal system and found that a third of them were not “generally accepted in the field” of forensic mental health, which means that psychologists who had reviewed those tools didn’t think they were scientifically reliable or accurate. The study also showed that it was rare for lawyers to challenge the scientific validity of those tests in court. The article briefly explores the implications of these findings.
Emerging Research
Not all psychopaths are violent. Study reveals why some are ‘successful’ instead
This article talks about a recent study identifying strengths associated with psychopathy, rather than just the deficits identifying antisocial behaviors. Researchers found higher initial psychopathy was associated with a steeper increase of general inhibitory control and the inhibition of aggression over time. The effect was magnified among those who were in successful careers.
What science tells us about false and repressed memories.
This paper reviews the scientific nature of false and repressed memories. It highlights how people can form false memories of autobiographical experiences and cites research that shows how false memories can even be implanted for negative events and events that allegedly occurred repeatedly. It also debunks myths about repressed memories and provides plausible alternative explanations for why people claim to have forgotten traumatic experiences. To conclude the paper explains why understanding memory is extremely relevant within the judicial process.
Forensic Mental Health
Treatment
The complexity of 'complex' trauma
“The complexity of 'complex' trauma” explains how offender rehabilitation is more clinically informed through a focus on interpersonal trauma. He believes this can structure our understanding of offending behavior, and how to address it through trauma-informed care.
Sex Offenders: Is Revenge Better Than Child Safety?
“Sex Offenders: Is Revenge Better Than Child Safety?” is an exploration of how chemical castration does not protect society or rehabilitate offenders but rather increases risk of noncompliance with treatment and future recidivism.
Rehabilitation Benefits Young Offenders
“Rehabilitation Benefits Young Offenders,” a report by Human Rights Watch found young offenders in adult prisons were often isolated for large periods of time. This article briefly discusses the psychological harm of isolation on children and suggests alternatives.
Do Sex Offenders Have A Mental Illness?
This article discusses treatment for sexual offenders. Although a controversial topic, the article makes the case that since a large majority of incarcerated adult male sex offenders will return to the community, inding ways to treat, manage, and supervise these offenders is imperative. A few examples of the diagnoses and treatment available for convicted sex offenders in the US is highlighted in the article. Many of the states have different treatment models, each with different outcomes.
Mental Health and Incarceration
How prison changes people
“How prison changes people” identifies how the personalities of prisoners are modified during long-term incarceration. It also discusses the negative impact of such personality changes on reintegration into society and reoffending.
The unique way the Dutch treat mentally ill prisoners
“The unique way the Dutch treat mentally ill prisoners” explains the Dutch prison system and how they care for prisoners with mental illnesses. The article also highlights forensic institutions that are for people with mental illness who commit violence offences.
Locked up and vulnerable: When prison makes things worse
Women in prison are more likely to have mental health issues when compared to men. The article, “Locked up and vulnerable: When prison makes things worse,” discusses how non-violent first time offending women end up in the prison system and what happens to them when they leave.
Police
Interview: A thirst to learn the truth
“Interview: A thirst to learn the truth” follows a conversation with Gisli Gudjonsson CBE, leading world expert on false confessions. The conversation leads to a discussion on vulnerabilities of those with ID, the Reid technique and PEACE model of interviewing, and expert witness testifying.
Why might innocents make false confessions?
“Why might innocents make false confessions?” highlights landmark cases where innocent people were charged and convicted for offences they did not commit. This is followed by an exploration of the factors that result in individuals being vulnerable to false confessions during police questioning.
United Nations may recommend PEACE approach
The PEACE model for interviewing used by investigators in UK, Norway, and New Zealand may soon be recommended by the UN.
Forensic neuroscience and neuropsychology
Lifelong antisocial behavior linked to brain differences
“Lifelong antisocial behavior linked to brain differences” This article highlights a recent study that found that those whose antisocial behavior started in childhood and persisted into adulthood, show less grey matter in regions of their brain affiliated with motivation and emotional control, when compared to those that offended in adolescence and never again. Implications and limitations of this finding are discussed.
Exploring the neuroanatomy of a murderer
“Exploring the neuroanatomy of a murderer” highlights an MRI study that compared the brain scans of various offenders. Findings indicated that the brains of homicide offenders were significantly different to those of generally violent and non-violent offenders. Implications are discussed within the context of previous flawed studies.
The controversial debut of genes in criminal cases
“The controversial debut of genes in criminal cases” discusses the use and misuse of neuroscience in the courtroom. The contrasting opinions of two researchers (Deborah Denno, a professor of law at Fordham University in New York City and James Tabery, a professor of philosophy at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City), on whether neuroscience makes a decisive difference in court, are discussed.