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.

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