Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-06-29
NEW LAWS ON
INSANITY
BY FREDERIC J. HASKlN

1 q prominent New 1OFk pIly ST.
clan, in st. Georges church
here several Sundays ago, by an es-
capped lunatic. has created widespread
agitation for the amendment of the
state insanity laws with a view to
preventing the occurrence of another
such tragedy. A committee of the
New York Neurological society,
headed by DR.. Charles L. Dana, is
now at work on a program of def
mite reforms, covering the whole
system of procedure in insanity
cases, and it is probable that the
conclusions of this committee will
be embodied in a bill to be introduce
fall.
The inadequacy of the present
laws is demonstrated by statistics
recently gathered by the Brooklyn
Neurological society, which show
that from $4,000 to $4,000 insane
persons are at large in the state of
New York, while another possible
10000 are free to come and go in the
state of New Jersey. All of these,
of course. are not to be regarded as
dangerous or necessarily fit subjects
for an institution. Probably the ma
jOrity are harmless. But unques-
tionab1y a large number come under
the category of border line" cases
persons who may go for weeks at
stretch without evidencing the
who are likely to lapse into insanity
at any moment.
Under these conditions, a blame
less life is no longer any protection
to a man. You may have an ire
proachable past, a sunny disposition,
a host of friends and not an enemy
| in the world, and yet here in New
owl Il oh
of violent death as a desperate GRIM
| inal. If a taxi doesn't do the work
then a lunatic is apt to. You never
! can be certain from one day to the
| next that someone isn't likely to
come along, take dislike to the cut
of your garments or the way you
comb your hair, and suddenly be fill
you.
The lunatic who killed DR.. Markoe
gave as his excuse the fact that he
| had painful headache. A few
months before that, another lunatic
| had suddenly become violent in the
lobby of a New York theater and
i slashed three women with knife be-
| fore he was manacled. But the po-
| lice court records are full of such
| cases, and have been for years. They
will doubtless continue to be until
society ceases to regard insanity in
the light of crime and recognizes
! it as a disease the same as small
| pox or tuberculosis.
Experts Should Decide
This is the chief object of the
| campaign now being carried on by
New, York neurrologists. They, want
| the laws amended so that in the fu-
| ture the final decision as to per-
sons insanity, and as to the course
| to be pursued in cases of insanity
shall be determined by competent
board of medical experts, and not,
as under present conditions, by a
! judge, who is seldom an authority
who usually know nothing whats0-
ever about it. They want the luna
| tic taken out Of the hands of law
yers, and turned over to competent
doctors.
| For years, the medical profession
has persistently advocated such a
course, but always it has been op-
posed on the grounds that no man
| can be deprived of his liberty with
out due process of law. Theoreti-
fcally, even raving maniac may be
| entitled to his hearing in court be-
fore being sent to an institution.
The popular superstition that, with
out this provision, it would be easy
to railroad an alleged insane per-
son to an institution, has always
raised an obstacle to any reform.
Yet, from the medical viewpoint. it
is quite as ridiculous for a persons
| sanity to be passed upon by judge
and jury as it would be to have a
judge and jury determine whether
or not a person should be operated
upon for appendicitis.
Delirium is easily recognized by
laymen, but there are some types of
insanity which are very apt to es-
q no I'm fro In Of hn
For Instance the basis of the lay
mans decision is usually whether or
not the accused is capable of recog-
nizing the enormity of his offense,
yet every neurologist knows that
many patients who have the finest
sense of right and wrong suffer most
from morbid obsessions which run
counter to their moral principles.
81 know of two PATIENTS" says one
New York neurologiSt, both accused
of murder, who had pursued their
vocations uninterruptedly up to the
afterwards-in fact, until the arrest
aroused suspicion among their
friends and business acquaintance.
Each man had planned the crime in
all it's details, and each had taken
elaborate measures to conceal his
identity as the perpetrator. Each
appeared mentally healthy, yet in
vestigation proved that both were
paranoiacs, each believed himself or
dained to commit the murder, and
each had a bad family history"
A man of this type might appear
perfectly sane to lay jury. Indeed,
according to DR.. Dana, of the New
York Neurological society, it has be-
come practically impossible to COM
mot a paranoiac. by that, L mean
that the commitment of a paranoiac
farce
he says. For the past twenty years
have not committed one such patient.
1t is no use. The average American
jury lets him right out"
This statement is corroborated by
DR.. Walter Timme, also a member or
the New York Neurological society,
/ who says that for this reason: many
! of the best men in the profession
will no longer take commitment
| cases. cit is like this" he says.
| law to commit patients we think are
! insane. This is done both to protect
the patient and to protect society.
| But the patient, after being commit
| ted, may obtain a writ of habeas cor
pus, carry his case before lay jury,
and be released. He may then turn
around and sue the doctors who pro-
nounced him insane. AS we all
know, this happens very often.
Jury System Is Bad
at would be far better to do away
with the jury system and have com
mitment cases submitted to a COM
mission of experts-medical men of
unquestioned standing in their pro-
fession; not a group of political .ap-
pointees, but a commission appoint
ed by scientific societies. Such a
commission composed of men who
know and understand something
about the disease would be far bet
ter Qualified to weed out those who
properly need medical care than any
court &C U or lay jury could hope to be"
| DR.. John F. W. Meagher. president
of the Brooklyn Neurological society.
who is Joining in the campaign for
the amendment of the state laws,
also has some disquieting remarks to
contribute on the present situation.
I'VE want the Legislature, to inVes-