Safety Walks wrote an opinion piece about a recent killing, where an unhoused person with mental illness pushed a woman, Michell Go, in front of a subway train, killing her.
He turned himself in. The news stories noted, repeatedly, that he was mentally ill.
SW says:
61-year-old homeless attacker, Martial Simon is identified as a schizophrenic by his family. While he was ordered by a judge to undergo a psychiatric evaluation when he was arraigned on murder charges Wednesday, this is not sufficient. Many attacks on Asian Americans have been waged by persons who should be housed under professional mental health care supervision.
Rising homelessness and the crisis of housing affordability for very-low income and mentally disabled persons exacerbates and encourages street violence.
From: Opponents of Anti-Asian violence must fight for mental health and housing reform.
I agree.
Some additional study.
Podcast episode: Uses of the Insanity Defense, from Stuff You Should Know.
The insanity plea is rarely used, and it rarely succeeds. I wonder if it succeeds more when the victim is a person of color, or Asian specifically.
//I’m still working on this page. Check back as I learn more.
.
Leave a Reply