Insanity Offense

In the 1960s a policy shift in mental health care sent thousands of mentally ill patients out of institutions and onto the streets. The ramifications of this new legal world led to rampant homelessness and an increase in crimes committed by the insane and unstable, with a notable recent example being the case of Cho Seung-Hui, the Virginia Tech shooter in 2007 who had been released and unmonitored multiple times, despite his clearly problematic mental state. E. Fuller Torrey tracks this disturbing shift in attitudes and laws as they relate to the mentally ill. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.