A Sick System
Repeat Attacks After Pleading Insanity
Editor’s Note, Jan. 18, 2019: Several stories in this series about Oregon’s handling of people found “guilty except for insanity” contain significant errors. Read this post to learn more about the mistakes we found. We have left the original uncorrected articles below.
Decades after the nation moved away from long-term commitment for people with mental illness, the state of Oregon has freed some people found “guilty except for insanity” in violent crimes, and they later attacked again.
Oregon Officials Call for Changes of Laws on Criminally Insane
The state’s attorney general said the rate of recidivism among defendants found not guilty by reason of insanity is “too high,” and key lawmakers said they plan to rewrite the state’s laws after an analysis by the Malheur Enterprise and ProPublica.
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