Comment by jamesblonde 4 days ago
The scary thing is that Maine is considered progressive for prison.
My former (brilliant) student developed schizophrenia and tried to rob a bank with a gun because the voices told him to do it. He got 10 years in jail. I think every EU country would treat him for his condition until he was safe to rejoin society. In the US, he was thrown in the slammer.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/irishman-jailed-for-10-years...
Why do you call it a facility?
Do i need to explain the difference between treatment at a pyschiatric center vs the offer of psychiatric treatment in a prison?
If you think they are somehow equivalent, you are very much mistaken.
You are putting somebody with pyschiatric illness in with hardened criminals. Do they welcome him with open arms?
> difference between treatment at a pyschiatric center vs the offer of psychiatric treatment in a prison?
The first was rejected by Mr Clarke's own country before committing any crime. The second was offered following a crime which could have cost somebody their life.
It's a very clear difference in my mind.
You're talking out your arse now. This is not true: "The first was rejected by Mr Clarke's own country" The country didn't reject it. He refused to get treatment and actually fled the country to escape it.
So, a crime is a crime even if it is committed by somebody who is insane?
That is insane!
> My former (brilliant) student developed schizophrenia and tried to rob a bank with a gun because the voices told him to do it. He got 10 years in jail. I think every EU country would treat him for his condition until he was safe to rejoin society. In the US, he was thrown in the slammer.
Is the story supposed to be more sympathetic because he was (brilliant)?
Putting brilliant in parentheses indicates that it is parenthetical. That means it’s an aside, an afterthought, or additional information that isn’t essential to the main point of the sentence.
What is your point?
> I think every EU country would treat him for his condition until he was safe to rejoin society. In the US, he was thrown in the slammer.
From the article, his parents express frustration at their inability to get him committed for treatment in Ireland. They cite the lack of response there as a key factor in his spiral.
Also, the US facility he was sent to did offer psychiatric treatment and the judge urged him to accept it:
> The judge recommended that Clarke serve his sentence at a prison that would give him access to psychiatric treatment and he urged Clarke to accept it.
I understand your objections to the “slammer” but the sentence was actually as lenient as could be, offered the psychiatric treatment he needed, and had an opportunity for him to return to Ireland in a couple years:
> Speaking on behalf of the Clarke family, solicitor Eugene O'Kelly said that they were relieved at the relative leniency of the sentence and expressed the hope Clarke could be returned to Ireland "within a year or two" to serve out his sentence.