Not Criminally Responsible

[Sweet Emily J 172062]

I just watched this intensely thought provoking and incredibly compelling documentary called Not Criminally Responsible about mental illness and recovery. Seriously I have not been that moved by a doc in quite a while. Check it out.

 

You can watch the whole tv version of the doc at http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/episodes/not-criminally-responsible.

 

The tv version will air again on CBC News Channel on Sunday Oct 20 at 8:00pm. And the feature length version will air also Sunday Oct 20 on The Documentary Channel.

 

"There has been a quiet revolution in recent years in the treatment of people with mental disorders who commit an act of violence. Not long ago such patients would almost certainly have been considered hopelessly deranged and dangerous, and confined to an "asylum for the criminally insane" for life.

 

Not anymore. Today people declared not criminally responsible are frequently being released back onto the streets, a number of them potentially extremely dangerous men and women, not only suicidal but homicidal. Most are incurable.

 

NCR: Not Criminally Responsible tells the story of a troubled young man who stabbed a complete stranger 6 times in a crowded shopping mall while gripped by psychosis. Twelve years later, his victim, who miraculously survived, is terrified to learn that he's out, living in the community under supervision. He's applying for an absolute discharge, and if he succeeds, he'll no longer be required to take the anti-psychotic drugs that control his mental illness. With unprecedented access to the patient, the victim, and the mental institution, the film looks at both sides of the debate and puts a human face on the complex ethical issues raised.

 

Read More..."

 

Read a review about the doc at The G&M:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/television/documentary-takes-a-look-inside-the-perpetrators-experience/article14885202/

[cinelli 22184]

We had the Vince Li incident here in Winnipeg. I attended the funeral.

 

I am disgusted by the amount of sympathy this killer gets, and the way he is portrayed as a victim by advocates for mental illness. Nobody remembers the poor kid who was killed, or the impact it had on his family. Yes he is sick, maybe it's not his fault, but I never want to see him released. EVER!

 

His doctors say he PROBABLY won't relapse, he probably won't kill anyone. As long as he takes his meds he should be all right. That's not acceptable.

I have experience with employees who are mentally ill. Very few of them take their meds as required, and most have ended up refusing to take them and made themselves unemployable.