A course in "Street Law" was taught to forensic patients by law students, following a format used by Georgetown University Law Center. Although the course has been taught to high school students and inmates of correctional facilities, this was the first time it has been extended to mental patients found not guilty of crimes by reason of insanity. An outstanding feature of the course was marked ...

In a landmark study, Careers of the Criminally Insane, Steadman and Cocozza investigated the behavior of patients who were released from institutions for the criminally insane in the State of New York. Protesting the court decision (Baxstrom v. Herold) mandating a transfer to civil hospitals for evaluation and possible release, state corrections officers claimed their patients were "too dangero...

As a rule, mentally ill patients are held to be responsible for their acts just like everyone else. Notwithstanding, the law in Israel contains special rules which distinguish individuals with mental illness from other people. The instructions laid out in article 34h of the Israeli Penal Law empower the court to release a defendant from criminal responsibility. To do this the following criteria...

Abstract Background Oak Ridge, a unit for "criminally insane" male patients at Penetanguishene in Ontario, Canada opened in1965 and provided an experimental system of treatment whereby looked after other strictly controlled harsh environment. It closed 1983. Aims This article draws attention to the unethical treatments used. Method Some are described, as is, briefly, recent civil lawsuit Ontari...