World of Psychology

Psychosis and the Law

By Sandra Kiume

As prisons become mental hospitals, this has major implications. Mind Hacks reports on executions of psychotic prisoners:

US Judge Wayne Salvant has ordered that Steven Kenneth Staley, a death-row inmate who is so severely mentally ill as to be unable to comprehend his situation, can be forcibly medicated so he can be executed while mentally competent.

A stay of execution was previously granted as he was judged not to understand his situation due to impaired mental functioning.

Staley is not the first prisoner to find himself in this situation.

Read more.


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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 20 Apr 2006
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.

APA Reference
Kiume, S. (2006). Psychosis and the Law. Psych Central. Retrieved on May 25, 2012, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2006/04/20/psychosis-and-the-law/

 

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