Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-06-28
New Laws on Insanity
BY Frederic ]. Haskin

New York, June 25.--The killing Of
DIR. James w. Markoe, n prominent New
York physician, in st. Georges Church
here several Sundays ago, by IN escaped
lunatic, has created widespread agitation
for the amendment Of the State insanity
laws with view to preventing the oc-
currencc Of another such tragedy. A
committee of the New York Neurological
Society, headed by DIR. Charles l.. Dana,
is now Mt work on a program of definite
reforms covering the whole system OF
procedure in insanity cnses, and it is
probable that the conclusions Of this com
mittee will be embodied in bill TO be in
troduced into the State Legislature next
fall
The inadequacy Of the present laws is
demonstrated by statistics recently gath
cred by the Brooklyn Neurological So
ciety, which show that from $4,000 tn
5000 insane persons are ut large IN the
State Of New York, while another possible
10000 are free to come and 90 IN the State
Of New Jersey. All of these, OF course,
are not to be regarded ms dangerous or
necessarily fit subjects for an institution.
Probably the majority are harmless. But
unuuestionably n large number come tn
der the category Of "border line" cases
persons who may go for weeks at a stretch
without evidencipp the slightest sign OF
abnormality, but who are likely to lapse
into insanity ct any moment
Under these conditions, biameIess
life is no longer any protection 10 man
I You may have an irreproachable past,
sunhy disposition a host Of friends aud
not an enemy in the world, and yet here
in New York you run about the same
| chance of violent death, as desperate
criminal. II n taxi doesn't do the work,
then lunatie is apt 10. You never can
be certain from one day TO the next that
someone isn't likely 10 come along, take
dislike TO the cut OF your garments or
the way you comb your hair, and sud-
denly be filled with an irresistible desire
TO shoot 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
theatre and slashed three women with
knife before he was caught and manaoled,
But the police court records arc full Of
such cases, and have been for years.
| They will doubtless continue TO be until
society ceases 10 regard insanity in the
light OF n crime and recognizes il as dis
ease, the same as smallpox or tubercuiO-
sis.
EXPERTS SHOULD DECIDE.
This is the chief object Of the campaign
now being carried on by New York
neurolOgists. They want the laws amend
| ed SO that in the future tho final decision
! as 10 persons insanity, and as TO the
| course to be pursued in cases of insanity.
! shall be determined by a competent
/ board of medical experts, and not, as
under present conditions, by a judge, who
| is seldom an authority on insanity, and 70
a jury of layrnen who usually know moth
| ing whatsoever about it. They want the
lunatic taken out of the hands Of lawyers,
and turned over TO competent doctors
For years, The medical profession has
persistently advocated such course, but
always it has been opposed on the grounds
that no man can be deprived Ot his liberty
without due process Of law. Theoretically,
| even ravng maniac may be entitled -
his hearing in court before being sent 70
an institution. The popular superstition
that, without this provision, IT would be
easy TO railroad an alleged insane person
TO an institution, has always raised an
obstacle TO any reform. Yet from ths
medical viewpoint It IS quite as ridiculous
for persons sanity TO be passed upon by
Judge and jury as IT would be TO have =
Judge and jury determine whether or not
a person should be operated upon for
appendicitis.
Delirium is easily recognized BY lav-
men, but there are some types Of insanity
which are very apt 10 escape the unframed
eve of the Jury. For instance. the bass
of the layman' decision IS usually whether
or not the accused Is capable Of recog-
nizing the enormity of his offense, vet
every neurolo-ist knows that many pa
tients who have the finest sense Of right
and wrong suffer most from morbid OBJ
sessions which run counter to their moral
principles.
Il know OF two patents" says one
New York neurologist, both accused OF
murder, who had pursued their voeatlons
unlnterruptedly up to the time OF the
deed and for sometime afterwards IN
fact, until the arrest occurred. They had
in no way aroused suspicion among
their friends and business acquaintance.
Each man had planned the crime IN all
its details, and each had taken elaborate
measures to conceal ms identity IS the
perpetrator Each appeared mentally
healthy, yet investigation proved that
both were parancoacs, each believed him
self ordained % commi. the murder, and
each had bad family history
A man OF this type might appear per
fectly sane to a lay jury. Indeed, ac-
cordlng TO DIR. Dana Of the New York
Neurological Society, 1t has become prac-
tically impossible TO commit a paranolac.
by that, | mean that the commitment
of paranoiac has become little more than
farce" he says For the past twenty
years | have not committed one such
patient. 1t is no use. The average Amerl-
can jury lets him right out
This statemon, Is corrobOrated by DIR
Walter Timme, also a member Of the
New York Neurological Society who says
that for this reason many Of the best men
in the profession viii no longer take COM
mltment eases 1t Is like this, he says
we are credited and authorized by 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 committed, may obtain a writ
of habeas corpus, carry his case before q
| lay Jury, and be released, lie may then
turn around and sue che 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 commit
ment cases submitted to u comm ission
OF experts medical men Of unquestioned
standing in their profession, not a group
of political oppointees, but commission
Il oh