![]() ![]() ![]() They get released, then they go off their meds and rotate right back into the system.”Īs part of a yearlong investigation into Florida’s mental hospitals, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and Tampa Bay Times reviewed court case files and criminal records for thousands of defendants deemed incompetent to stand trial over the past decade. “The majority of defendants are picked up for crimes that escalate from a misdemeanor. “It’s the definition of insanity,” said George Sheldon, who oversaw Florida’s state-funded mental hospitals from 2008 to 2010, when he was secretary of the state Department of Children and Families. Without medication, some fall apart so quickly they are hallucinating again before their first court hearing and must be returned to a mental hospital to start the process all over again.īy the time many make it to court, they are told they’ve already spent more time locked away than their crime deserves. The average cost to Florida taxpayers is $53,000 per defendant.īut the moment a patient is declared mentally fit, the state cuts off care and sends them back to jail. The singular goal: to get them deemed legally competent so they can return to face their charges. The game show Florida uses to teach mental patients to be competent to stand trial “What is a bailiff?” “What is the role of a judge?” State training videos Watch: ‘Trial & Error’ ![]() Instead, the hospitals run patients through drills, day after day, to teach them how a courtroom works. ![]() 18, 2015 BY MICHAEL BRAGA, ANTHONY CORMIER and LEONORA LaPETER ANTONĮvery year, Florida courts send hundreds of people accused of minor crimes to high security mental hospitals.įorced to live among violent offenders, they get medication to stabilize their symptoms, but little therapy or long-term support to help them manage their illnesses. Chronically homeless and mentally ill, Mallia has been sent to mental hospitals four times - costing taxpayers about $143,000.įourth in a series | Dec. Laura Mallia smokes her last cigarette after waking up on the sidewalk near the Salvation Army in Sarasota. ‘Definition of insanity’ Florida spends millions making sure the mentally ill go to court - and gets nothing for it. So make sure to rate and review our podcast on iTunes and tell all your friends to subscribe and join the ranks of the enlightened.Insane. In fact, listening and subscribing is the definition of enlightenment. It’s not insanity, however, to keep listening to Professor Buzzkill. It was a sort of guide book for addicts who trying to overcome their disease, and it warned its readers that, “insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results.” Narcotics Anonymous was trying to convince its members that continuing to use narcotic drugs and expecting to be able to stop on their own was folly. The “definition of insanity” quote first appeared in 1981, in a document published by Narcotics Anonymous. (By the way, two other brainiacs and quote attractors, Ben Franklin and Mark Twain, are also credited with coining this idea.) Is it any wonder, therefore, that the quote, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results” is attributed to him? Alas, Buzzkillers, quotes like this seem to attach themselves to Einstein at the speed of light, and there’s no evidence he ever said it. He also contributed greatly to the philosophy of science. His theories helped scientists break through some of the barriers to our understanding the physical world and the universe. Albert Einstein was one of the most significant scientific geniuses of the 20th century. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |