Greyhound Bus Beheading Verdict

PR Log (Press Release) – Mar 05, 2009 – It is regrettable that the family of the young man beheaded by someone in the grip of a total psychotic episode is demanding that there be changes in the justice system to incarcerate permanently everyone found not criminally responsible.

While out hearts go out to them for the tragedy they have experienced and to the too early loss of Tim McLean, the real issue that led to this (and other) preventable tragedies is that society does not properly diagnose and treat those who have the potential to be violent. We allow people to refuse treatment even when they do not have the capacity to be able to make that sort of informed decision. As one disgruntled advocate for better treatment once said, it is easier to get into Harvard than for a mentally ill person to be committed to Bellevue Psychiatric.

The law in most North American jurisdictions makes it difficult to compel treatment. Some jurisdictions like Ontario with Brian's Law and New York State with Kendra's Law, have expanded the criteria but they are still not as all encompassing as some European Jurisdictions.

Ensuring that Mr. Li and others like him receive treatment via community treatment orders and assertive community treatment would have helped to prevent what he did. Studies of the outcomes of these strategies suggest that those individuals were less violent. A five year follow up of Kendra's Law in New York State found decreases in substance abuse, assaultive anti-social and self harm behavior, hospitalization rates, homelessness, arrest and incarceration.

People who are ill with diseases deserve to be treated even when the nature of the disease prevents them from making rational treatment decisions. Society deserves to be protected by ensuring that they receive appropriate treatment.

Our treatment of people with serious psychiatric illnesses is shameful. A fitting tribute to Tim McLean would be McLean's Law that helped ensure that people with serious mental illness get the treatment that they deserve so that both the ill and society are protected.