Ok, it looks like the majority of people do NOT know what happens to people who are found not guilty by reason of insanity. I don’t know what happens in other places. But let’s start the convo about what happens in CT and #ReevaluateSecurity https://twitter.com/connconnection/status/1282619473686663169

The technical language in our law is a finding by the court that the person accused of a crime is “not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.” Some people refer to this as “not guilty by reason of insanity” or abbreviated NGRI #ReevaluateSecurity

If this defense is raised, it is an affirmative defense. That means the defendant (the person accused of the crime) bears the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence. Let’s break this down as we #ReevaluateSecurity

The defendant isn’t claiming that they didn’t do the thing that they’re accused of doing. What defendant has to prove is that when they did the thing, because of their “mental disease or defect,” they couldn’t appreciate that the conduct was wrong or control their behavior.

It is not a defense if defendant voluntarily used intoxicating liquor, drugs or other substances that caused the mental disease or defect UNLESS the substance was prescribed and used as directed.

“Preponderance of the evidence” means a greater than 50% chance that something is true. So, the defendant has to convince the judge (or a three judge panel) that this is true.

Adding caveat to this thread: I am not a criminal defense attorney. I am a civil rights attorney w/ a focus on mental health law. @CTLegalRights does not represent people in criminal legal matters. We represent clients who are trapped in this system to protect their civil rights.

But I think it’s important that we all have some of this background so you can better understand what I mean when I talk about the need to #ReevaluateSecurity

In Connecticut, people who are found NGRI (also called “insanity acquittees” which I will call IAs) are places under the jurisdiction of the Psychiatric Security Review Board (PSRB.) You can read more about the Board here https://portal.ct.gov/PSRB/About-Us/About-Us/About-PSRB #ReevaluateSecurity

The Board is composed of six members who are political appointees. “The board members are designated to represent professional expertise in the fields of law, probation/parole services, psychology, psychiatry, victim services, and the interest of the general community.”

These six political appointees literally hold the keys to freedom for the people who are placed under their jurisdiction.

That’s why I say that this entire system desperately needs reform. The same kind of reform that advocates are demanding in the greater criminal legal system. The PSRB system is infected by the same systemic racist biases as the greater criminal legal system. #ReevaluateSecurity

I outline the demands of @CTLegalRights in this document. https://tinyurl.com/ya74lal7  I encourage people to read it & contact me with questions. We need to #ReevaluateSecurity. We must reform this system which reinforces racial disparities and places obstacles in the way of re-entry.

So, I’ve given a bit of background, and provided the list of changes I think we need to see in the system. Now I want to listen. If you, or someone you know, has been stuck in this system, would you consider sharing your experiences? Please use #ReevaluateSecurity