I finally heard back from the Shawnee County DA’s office and Mr. Kagay does not have the ability to initiate, or establish a mental health court in the Third Judicial District. I was referred to Court Administration for this endeavor.
Category: History and Thoughts
COVID19 Vaccine Clinic
We’re proud to announce that we are hosting the Shawnee County Health Department in the Oakland Community Center for a COVID19 vaccine clinic. Pfizer vaccinations will be administered on July 28th and August 18th between the hours of 11am and 1pm, walk-ins are welcome, the shots are FREE and no ID is required.
Letter to the Editor:
Restore Insanity Defense in Kansas
The FY2020 Kansas Department of Corrections Annual Report notes that 40% of our total prison population suffers from mental illness, with the majority of inmates diagnosed with serious mental illness, a condition that interrupts daily routine and requires managed care.
Did you know that the state of Kansas abolished the insanity defense in 1995? Since 1884, Kansas courts had employed the M’Naghten Rule as an affirmative defense of insanity, but now legislators were asked to do away with fundamental, common law.
Per K.S.A. 22-3220, now, K.S.A. 21-5209, a defendant can enter a plea of mental defect to trigger the prosecution’s burden to prove mens rea or criminal intent. If the prosecution can prove that the defendant intended a crime, they have a “guilty mind.” Mental disease or defect is not otherwise a defense.
In McLinn v. Kansas, one notion brought up by the prosecutor was a supposed, purposeful force Sarah McLinn used to sever Hal Sasko’s head. This supposed, purposeful force satisfied a criminal intent to determine a “culpable mental state,” but Sarah, diagnosed with multiple personalities, couldn’t enter into evidence her pathology as a defense.
In his 1998 criticism of the Kansas abolition of the insanity defense, Marc Rosen explains “there is one major limitation on the defendant’s ability to introduce evidence corroborating or showing the existence of a mental disease or defect. Such evidence is only admissible as it specifically relates to the requisite mens rea of the offense.”
Now KDOC wants taxpayer dollars for the needs of mentally ill inmates when we have funded state hospitals to treat defendants. It is time to restore an insanity defense in Kansas.
Keri Strahler, Topeka
All you have to do is ask …
Yesterday morning, at the top of the May Intersection Coalition meeting, our chairman asked if we had any ideas we wanted to share that might correspond with the mission of the coalition.
I opened my microphone and asked if establishing a mental health court in our Third Judicial District (Shawnee County) might help keep mentally ill folks out of jail. Our chairman approved and said he would like to see this idea come to fruition, too.
I’d forgotten our audience and soon one of our county judges chimed in. She said that she would check into getting a mental health court and I’m a weeping hot mess this morning. I’ll never get used to speaking to power and am so grateful that the Chair allowed me this opportunity. Today, I’m hoping to further conversation with our District Attorney to get him on board.
Thank you
Your donations were tallied up in a $100 dollar check made out to the Topeka Correctional Facility to be deposited into their ‘indigent inmate fund’ and I’m feeling weepy over this opportunity to help reinstate a woman’s identity upon reentry into society. This endeavor was made possible by you. Thank you.
Stepping Up:
Workgroup meetings
Keri here and I’m excited that we were invited to participate in a subcommittee of the Governor’s Behavioral Health Services Planning Council. Our workgroup will be focusing on Competency to Stand Trial issues at the state level whereas at the county level we’re working with stakeholders for the Stepping Up Initiative to keep mentally ill persons out of jail. I had to back off of direct services for inmates reentering society as COVID19 prevents dialogue with inmates and parole officers are working remotely. This is where my heart is though, helping my peers through crises and I have to be careful not to spread myself too thin in advocacy.
Replacement SS Cards
Substance Abuse
KDOC: Mental Illness
Short-lived Mental Health Issues: Diagnoses that generally resolve within six months or less, as well as diagnoses that interfere with a person’s functioning in social, occupational or other important activities (generally excluding a sole diagnosis of substance use disorder or personality disorder).
Serious Mental Illness: Diagnoses resulting in serious impairment in functioning, interfering with a person’s ability to meet the ordinary demands of living and requiring an individualized treatment plan.
Severe and Persistent Mental Illness: Diagnoses resulting in extreme and lasting impairment in functioning, requiring an individualized
treatment plan and ongoing multi-disciplinary care. Diagnoses are comparable to those used and set by community standard of care