Books: Mental Illness and Retardation
Posted: January 15, 2007
Christopher Slobogin of
the University of Florida's
Law School has written a new book about the state's legal authority to
deprive people with mental disabilities of life or liberty. The
book
discusses a number of well known cases such as that of John Hinckley
and Andrea Yates. It also includes discussion of laws dealing
with the
insanity defense, the death penalty, commitment of sexual predators,
and hospitalization of people considered unable to make rational
decisions. The book advances new ways of thinking and calls for a
complete revamping of the insanity defense, the abolition of the guilty
but mentally ill verdict, and a prohibition on execution of people with
mental disability.
("Minding Justice: Laws that Deprive
People with Mental Disability of Life and Liberty," Harvard
Univ. Press 2006). See Mental
Illness and Books.
Katherine Norgard's recent book, "Hard to
Place:
A Crime of Alcohol,"
is a personal account of the trauma experienced by her family when her
adopted son is charged with a capital crime. The book is the author's
story of fighting to save her son after he was sentenced to death for
the 1989 murder of an elderly couple in Tuscon, Arizona. At the time of
his trial, she still did not know that her son, John Eastlack, had been
born with fetal alcohol syndrome, despite his signs of mental illness.
The disorder occurs when mothers drink during pregnancy, and it often
leaves children with seriously impaired judgment. Eastlack's brain
damage was discovered after he was on death row. Eight years
after he
was sentenced to die, his sentence was reversed. He will likely spend
the rest of his life in prison. CUNY Law Professor Jeffrey L.
Kirchmeier notes, "Kathy Norgard's book gives a unique personal and
professional insight into the difficulties a family faces when a loved
one is charged with a capital crime. As a mental health professional,
she uses her personal experiences to illustrate how mental
disabilities, and fetal alcohol syndrome in particular, relate to our
nation's capital punishment system. As a mother, she reveals a love for
her family and illustrates a side of the death penalty that is rarely
considered." Norgard, a Tuscon psychologist, now works to
prevent other children from being born with fetal alcohol syndrome, the
leading cause of mental retardation in the United States. Her book
contains a forward by Sister Helen Prejean, who writes: "You,
the reader of this book, are privileged to enter into her soul.
Her
words are transparent, unsparing of herself. She takes you to the
deep
places. She's brave to write such a book and to share it with the
world." (Recover Resources Press, 2006). See Books.
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