![]() ![]() Li was undiagnosed before he killed McLean, meaning he has never had to voluntarily stick to a treatment plan. This isn't a call to have every person who suffers from mental illness monitored forever by law enforcement but after someone has committed such a violent, traumatic act, he or she shouldn't ever be completely "free." To many, it won't seem "right" that someone has to check in with the legal system forever just because he or she suffers from an illness and committed a crime, but at the same time, it's arguably worse to assume that everything is fine, to shrug off whatever act landed the individual in the justice system in the first place, and to blindly trust that he or she won't decide one day that medication is no longer needed. And they're right: it isn't fair, but few things about mental illness are. Some mental health advocates (and perhaps, their libertarian friends) would call it unjust to subject NCR offenders who have completed treatment and rehabilitation to any conditions. I am not free': Witness to killing of Tim McLean Victim's family disappointed by Vince Li's discharge.There is now no legal recourse if he stops taking his medication or seeing his psychiatrist, which is unconscionable for many of those affected by Li's actions, including McLean's family. But the checks and balances that once existed for him (from a legal perspective, at least) disappeared the moment he was granted an absolute discharge. Li does not pose a risk to the public now that he is on his medication, according to the medical professionals who have treated him for the last near-decade. The absolute discharge does make sense from a legal perspective: the review board is required to choose the "disposition that is the least onerous and least restrictive to the accused." As long as the individual "does not pose a significant threat to the safety of the public," he or she must be discharged absolutely. Where critics of the case have a point is in the decision to grant Li an absolute discharge, meaning he is essentially free of the justice system, rather than a conditional discharge, whereby Li would be required to stick to a treatment plan or report regularly to a psychiatrist. In Li's case, according to the Manitoba Criminal Code Review Board, on the advice of Li's psychiatrist and other mental health specialists, his man in the mask is gone - for now. There is a reason why offenders deemed not criminally responsible are sent for treatment, not imprisonment, and why they are eventually released: if we accept that an illness compelled someone to commit a crime - the man in the mask, pressing a gun into his ribs - it is unjust to keep that person confined when that illness is under control. But what about when someone commits a heinous, violent act while in the midst of a paranoid delusion? Er… um… what Rona said. And indeed, it's easy when the scenarios are rather straightforward: don't fire someone because he or she suffers from depression be patient with friends and family members who experience anxiety. ![]() Many of us like to think of ourselves as progressive thinkers on mental health, proudly tweeting #BellLetsTalk to try to erase the stigma around mental illness. I asked him about Vincent Li earlier this week: is smart enough to know that Li is not actually a criminal but a little too politically minded, apparently, to care. Justin Trudeau must put the rights of victims ahead of criminals. Li, who has since changed his name to Will Baker, said he heard the voice of God telling him to decapitate and cannibalize McLean, a fellow passenger who Li believed was an alien. On March 5, 2009, a Manitoba court found Vince Li not criminally responsible for the horrific death of Tim McLean on a Greyhound bus seven months earlier. There is no actual man in a mask, of course (if there was, there might be grounds for a duress defence - a separate issue) rather "the man in a mask" is a euphemism for a mental illness that has you convinced you must hurt others, usually to stay alive. When a court deems an offender "not criminally responsible" (NCR), it accepts that a crime was committed under these sorts of conditions. "Kill them," he whispers into your ear. "Kill them, or I'll kill you." A man in a mask is now standing inches from your face, holding one gun against your body and pressing another into your hand. Imagine you're standing in a crowded public place - a playground, a movie theatre, a grocery store - when all of a sudden, you feel someone press something into your ribs. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |