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Response: Criminals Law for Criminal Justice

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Response: Criminals Law for Criminal Justice

Thank you so much for sharing your insights on this situation. It is a complex and

heartbreaking condition that requires us to rethink our understanding of the relationship between

mental issues and criminal responsibility. Mr. Rojas' background of mental health struggles,

together with his drug habit and said delusions, treated as a product of chemical imbalances in

his brain, obviously had a profound effect on his behavior that day. An insanity defense is a

defense that most often occurs in cases like this that maintains that the defendant was not liable

for his actions due to his mental state, and it is, therefore, clear why the defendant's acquittal was

warranted.

Nevertheless, I do have a doubt on whether total exoneration should be given to a person

that commits a terrible crime when they are mentally ill. Though this is a sensitive issue and their

mental health should be taken into account and they should be provided with the necessary

treatment and support, they need to be held accountable for their actions (Bucci et al., 2019). The

ruling allows for one to be completely held harmless for their actions, notwithstanding concerns

involving justice and public safety, which might arise from their mental condition.

From my point of view, a more balanced method would be to use treatment in

combination with more serious controlling. In Mr. Rojas' case, one would land in the psyche

ward, the best treatment avenue for his current condition. Nonetheless, upon exit, safeguards

should be in place so that he is monitored and remains off any medication if the aim is to prevent

self-harm or hurt anyone even in the future. This would include the supervised stay to check in

regularly with a mental health specialist and enrollment for the rehabilitation programs

(Armstrong, 2020). Along with this, he should be committed to the remaining sentence in prison

or a transitional facility that compliments the present sanctions system.

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References

Armstrong, S. (2020). At the risk of rights: rehabilitation, sentence management, and the

structural violence of prison. Critical Criminology, pp. 28, 85–105.

Bucci, S., Schwannauer, M., & Berry, N. (2019). The digital revolution and its impact on mental

health care. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, and Practice, 92(2), 277–

297.