Our mission is to work with Kansas lawmakers for an insanity defense, the M’Naghten Rule and help establish a mental health court in the Third Judicial District.
Did you know?
Kansas lawmakers abolished its insanity defense in 1996 after the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan when John Hinckley Jr. was found not guilty by reason of insanity. They adopted a narrow mens rea approach with determination of a ‘culpable mental state‘ while the defendant isn’t permitted their illness as a defense. Our prisons are forced to accommodate severely, mentally ill inmates, driving up the need for taxpayer dollars when already funded state hospitals could provide treatment for a duration determined by the courts.
Mental health courts are popping up all over the country as an alternative to get folks into treatment, reduce recidivism and lower incarceration costs. Douglas County has their Behavioral Health Court, but Shawnee County boasts the fifth largest city in population in Kansas. It is time that the Third Judicial District offer this opportunity to defendants.
Board Blog Insanity Defense Mental Health Courts Stepping Up Initiative