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In reply to the discussion: Subway push suspect laughs [View all]Omaha Steve
(99,618 posts)7. Here is the NYT story that wan't up yet when I posted this she has a mental past!!!!
There is a long history of mental illness. There is a law to keep her on her meds. Somebody dropped the ball. Just be glad she didn't g to a gun show.
Troubled Past for Suspect in Fatal Subway Push: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/31/nyregion/erika-menendez-suspect-in-fatal-subway-push-had-troubled-past.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20121231&_r=1&
By MARC SANTORA and ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS
Long before Erika Menendez was charged with pushing a stranger to his death under an oncoming train at a Queens elevated station, she had years of contact with New York Citys mental health and law enforcement establishments. She was treated by the psychiatric staffs of at least two city hospitals, and caseworkers visited her family home in Queens to provide further help. She was also arrested at least three times, according to the police, twice after violent confrontations.
Erika Menendez, 31, being escorted by the police Saturday. Ms. Menendez was charged with murder as a hate crime.
Ms. Menendezs years of inner and outer turmoil culminated in the deadly assault on an unsuspecting man who was waiting for a train on Thursday. Beyond stirring fear among riders on crowded platforms across the city, the attack also raised new questions about the safeguards in a patchwork private and public mental health system that is supposed to allow mentally ill people to live as freely as possible in the community while protecting them and the public.
A similar attack more than a decade ago led to a law aimed at forcing mentally ill people with a history of violence to undergo treatment, but it is widely acknowledged to cover only a small portion of those who need help.
D. J. Jaffe, the executive director of the Mental Illness Policy Organization, an advocacy group, said that thousands of troubled individuals with violent histories were released from mental health facilities, and that beyond requiring that they have a home to go to and an outpatient care plan in place, there was little oversight of their activities.
FULL story at link.
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guess i'm not clear on why it should be obvious there is no mental illness at play here....
unblock
Dec 2012
#3
Yeh, but "not right" and "mentally sick" does NOT mean she didn't know it was wrong.
Bucky
Dec 2012
#11
I agree, she could just be a sociopath who knew exactly what she was doing
TwilightGardener
Dec 2012
#15
You have just illustrated a common misunderstanding regarding mental illness and the law
slackmaster
Jan 2013
#45
Many people do awful things because they think it is "cool".. and they are not mentally ill.
secondwind
Dec 2012
#5
Here is the NYT story that wan't up yet when I posted this she has a mental past!!!!
Omaha Steve
Dec 2012
#7
Thank you for this. Have a relative who needs monitoring but doesn't get it because when is good
uppityperson
Dec 2012
#10
So, you're advocating incarceration for people not actually convicted of any crime?
Denninmi
Dec 2012
#32
There is a pretty big difference between "potential" and "ticking time bomb"
Sen. Walter Sobchak
Dec 2012
#39
Maybe because she has a history of violence towards others and not taking medication?
Marrah_G
Dec 2012
#34