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The low to HIGH Grade PARANOIA in the Legal Profession ---Talking About Issues Openly

2/15/2023

There are many things about the practice of law that make TRUE PROBLEM-SOLVING problematic.

Unfortunately, there are REASONS for why the LEGAL PROFESSION finds itself in so many double binds.
HOLDING PEOPLE or ENTITIES ACCOUNTABLE is NOT THE SAME THING --- as PROBLEM-SOLVING.

PROVIDING FOR SAFETY in the 21st Century is a lot more complicated than holding people accountable
Evidentiary Rules of "RELEVANCY" --- often miss the ELEPHANT or ELEPHANTS in the room and that often makes problems WORSE --- NOT BETTER.

The Law often CODIFIES "US vs. THEM THINKING."

GOOD IDEAS can come from ANYWHERE --- regardless of ACADEMIC DEGREES or where one is on the POLITICAL SPECTRUM or whether someone is actually pretty close to us and we're COMPETING for the SAME LANE
there are enough LANES for EVERYONE if we're CREATIVE about this.

Props
/präps/noun1. respect or credit due to a person: informal"Erika gets props for the great work she did on the music"

Val's Take: I think the criticism of Pomerantz is UNFOUNDED --- BUT I think "PROSECUTIONS" rarely get to "ROOT CAUSES."

I think LEGAL ACTIONS can potentially get to "ROOT CAUSES" ---

if the LAW has the bandwidth to FACILITATE COMPLICATED Problem-Solving---
That often looks more like TRADITONAL NOTIONS of EQUITY and taking into account "the Totality of the Circumstances"
- I think in most cases if we take into account the "Totality of the Circumstances" certainly that we're aware of in the 21st Century ---
  - We're outside PUNISHMENT
- We're NOT OUTSIDE SAFETY or FAIRPLAY

[The ADA is in many ways on the FORE FRONT of this kind of approach with "REASONABLENESS STANDARDS" and "Inter-Active Processes" ---

Human Disability is COMPLICATED and there has been the need for a FAIR AMOUNT OF ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE whether in the form of
- Administrative Executive Regulations, and/or
- Agency Guidance]

The Statutory Law narrowly circumscribes the issues to put people on NOTICE--- it can feel UNMANAGEABLE to deal with larger issues until you realize you didn't SOLVE the larger issues.

AND THOSE CIRCUMSCRIBED ISSUES KEEP COMING BACK.
And you may have made them WORSE.

Whether we are for the PROSECUTION of:

"BIGWIGS"
Rich people
Law Enforcement
Poor People
or as many people as possible
- Those "prosecutions" often SHORE UP the RATIONALE for SECRECY and
- PUSH real PROBLEM-SOLVING further away.

The STATES aren't complying with Olmstead ---

BUT one of the REASONS they are NOT COMPLYING is that some of STATES' most EXPENSIVE OBLIGATIONS are OUTSIDE MEDICAID:
- Medicaid's failure to cover Housing for people needing LONG TERM CARE, and
- Medicaid's Rule Excluding Payment for IMDs (Institutes for People with Mental Disease).
  - I'm not a big fan of Institutes of Mental Disease but they are generally better than Jails and Prisons

Further, it is clearer in 2023 than it was in 1999 that most of the people who are incarcerated have some type of Cognitive Disability, most notably:

Brain Injury,
Neuro-Developmental Differences/Disorders going to Executive Functioning,
Psychiatric Disorders (that can be additional manifestations of the Neuro-Developmental Differences/Disorders),
and Substance Issues that are often related to one or more of the above.

[Additionally. large segments of the population are dealing with some type of Developmental Inflammation that can be made worse by the environment --- and there is unconscious bias in prosecutions --- the Community as a WHOLE has a large interest in addressing these issues as the PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUES they are.]

Additionally, while Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) has been around since the 1970s ---

I think it is becoming MORE CLEAR why ACT can be particularly helpful and is often worth the money.
It is providing SUPPORT for Executive Functioning Challenges that may not have resolved even if a Psychosis did resolve.

I do think people with Psychiatric Disorders and Neuro-Developmental Differences and Families can help with PRECISION targeting of services that could save the States and the FEDS money.

So on the one hand States have had 20 years since the Olmstead decision to deal with this ---

But the truth is States and the Feds didn't really appreciate what they were dealing with --
and if the truth be told --- neither did Individuals or Families.

Knowledge can also help get us out of the perceived need for SECRECY.

Economics & Justice of a SYSTEM BROKEN in Multiple Places ---

1/3/2023

Healthcare Administration, Legal Administration, Doctors, Lawyers, Social Workers & Admin.& ---- BIG SHORTAGES

Executive Functioning as a HOT TOPIC is moving from YOUTUBE to PRIME TIME COP DRAMAS

Last night I was watching the new crime drama "East New York" about community policing --- and what did they slip in there BUT the "EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING CHALLENGES" of one of the officers --- and he brought it up.

One of the shows my husband got me hooked on before he passed away was "Longmire"--- what to me was particularly interesting about "Longmire" was the MEDICAL LANGUAGE that the characters were using in law enforcement, cowboy gear in Wyoming----

On the one hand it seemed incongruous --- on the other hand --- it seemed like reality.

Not Judging History --- Not Judging in the Present Moment

Even though I had a Dad who was a History Major and didn't agree with "judging history" by contemporary standards and at the same time was a proponent of SOCIAL CHANGE . . . I didn't get it.
I get it now ----in the process of having lived a complicated life in which the KNOWLEDGE I needed for a SMOOTH JOURNEY wasn't there ---
- and NOW SOME OF THAT MISSING KNOWLEDGE IS THERE --- and it does make a DIFFERENCE.

Overpaid Healthcare Administrators are an EASY TARGET --- but the TRUTH is our UNDERSTANDINGS have MISSED A LOT.

SOCIAL WORKERS and ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT are the most CRITICAL PIECES in MENTAL HEALTH TODAY ---
- BUT BIG SHORTAGES and OVERLY BUREAUCRATIC SYSTEMS mean you need a lot of eyes to find that "NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK" --
  - Such as Supportive Housing

One of the REASONS why we have these BIG SHORTAGES is we largely have not understood PSYCHIATRIC ISSUES as DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES involving among other things EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING.

Lawyers like Doctors provide that ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT where they can FINANCIALLY JUSTIFY IT ---

for Doctors it might be Cancer,
for Lawyers it might be Corporate or in the Street Law Realm --- Personal Injury

When I was working at The Legal Center for People with Disabilities and Older People (now Disability Law Colorado) ---

We were often admonished not to get sucked into doing SOCIAL WORK.
But as one therapist at the St. Francis Center said, "You need a case worker to get a case worker."

I was heartened to see on Colorado's Department of Healthcare Policy and Financing website --- a relatively new complaint form regarding CASE MANAGMENT.

I hope the purpose of those forms is NOT to SCAPEGOAT some little case manager but to address larger systemic issues.

I do think one possible way to address the BIG SHORTAGES is through a pro bono legal project directed towards INDIVIDUAL OLMSTEAD COMPLAINTS ---

But many of the attorneys who have the EXPERTISE to handle these issues could not provide the LEVEL of EMOTIONAL and ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT that their clients need to get through the PROCESS.

Peer Advocates and
Paralegal Support

might solve that.

Ted-Ed
What Makes Something Kafkaesque?

For me what makes "Mental Health" Kafkaesque is being asked to follow "EXPERTS" who aren't very good "EXPERTS" ----

But the SOCIETY is seemingly PARALYZED to Address Legitimate Concerns in the Profession.

I'm posting this video of very sweet neuro-divergent therapist Louise Taylor for the ENDING --- "THE FUTURE IS NEURO-DIVERSE."

That future is already here and to me it is one of the BIG REASONS we're struggling with a MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS.

We are getting better at WORKING AROUND and ACCOMMODATING Executive Functioning Differences --- to me that is a BIG KEY to staving off BURNOUTS and BREAK-DOWNS ---and maybe you'll have TIME TO ENJOY SOME OF THOSE NEURO-DIVERGENT STRENGTHS.

National Institute of Mental Healh
"IN A TIME OF DISCOVERY"

Mental disorders are among the most complex problems in medicine, with challenges at every level from neurons to neighborhoods.

Yet, we know so little about mechanisms at each level. Too often, we have been guided more by religion than science.

That is, so much of mental health care is based on faith and intuition, not science and evidence.

On the plus side, we put a premium on listening and compassion. We help people to change through understanding.

But not enough of our care has been standardized to a high level of quality, as expected in the rest of medicine.

------------Dr. Tom Insel, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health from his October 2014 Blog Atonement

Science Up

Scapegoating Not Necessarily the "INNOCENT" --- BUT the CLOSEST LINK IN THE CHAIN OF CAUSALITY

12/13/2022

Criminally prosecuting the officers in the Christian Glass case --- seems FAIR --- maybe even PROGRESSIVE --- BUT is it?

Colorado Abuse & Neglect Cases Involving People with Disabilities

Basically what we're doing in Criminal Justice is taking the closest link in the CHAIN OF CAUSALITY --- deeming everything else "IRRELEVANT" because we don't have the bandwidth to deal with it ----

Punishing someone or Finding them "NOT GUILTY" --- calling it good
& the Underlying Systemic Problems generally remain
& UNFORESEEN or FAIRLY FORESEEABLE NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES are added to the mix.

When we talk about the ENLIGHTENMENT of the 18th Century or WOKENESS of the 21st --- We're often talking about UNDERSTANDING issues beyond the INDIVIDUAL to the SYSTEMIC.

Definition of Scapegoat, Scapegoating, and Scapegoat Theory

March 15, 2022

Scapegoating is an analysis of violence and aggression in which people who have undergone or who are undergoing negative experiences — such as failure or abuse by others — blame an innocent individual or group for the experience.

Although the term scapegoat is biblical, Emile Durkheim was the first to talk about it in a sociological context. Durkheim believed that the practice of scapegoating is fundamental to the structures of societies, and that every event that generates negative emotions must have a scapegoat.

What the FOUNDING FATHERS understood was that the issue went beyond KING GEORGE --- to the INSTITUTION OF MONARCHY ---

King George was hardly the worst monarch in HISTORY ---
The CHALLENGE wasn't just getting a BETTER MONARCH --- it was getting a BETTER FORM OF GOVERNMENT.

Prosecution of the officers in the Christian Glass case seems in some ways reminiscent of the abuse cases coming out of the Denver Jail, Boulder Jail, Colorado Prisons, etc.

The situations were clearly not handled appropriately --- BUT a GROSSLY INADEQUATE COLORADO MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEM is putting INDIVIDUALS AT RISK and OFFICERS OVER THEIR HEADS.

At the end of the day --- this shouldn't be about LAW ENFORCEMENT and People with Cognitive Disabilities and their Families pitted against each other --- It should be both working to improve these systems.

Rocky Mountain PBS
Insight with John Ferrugia (2020)

"A breakdown in mental health services across the state of Colorado has left law enforcement on the front lines of handling people in crisis."

It's Important to be an idiot and ask some tough questions of mental health

10/24/2022

Val's Note: Simon Sinek's video to the right is a dangerous video for me to post because I think often people don't know what I'm trying to say -- or if they do --- they're not open to it.

I am open to QUESTIONS. I'm open to HARD QUESTIONS.

Having said that, part of what I'm trying to say is that the need for CERTAINTY has to be BALANCED against the NEED FOR REASONABLENESS --- and that is a MOVING TARGET BASED ON CURRENT KNOWLEDGE.

That KNOWLEDGE is experiencing a MAJOR FLOOD of INFORMATION --- I'm not aware of anyone who is "COMPLETELY ON TOP OF IT."

What are the RAMIFICATIONS of this for VICTIMS, DEFENDANTS and PROFESSIONAL PLAYERS in the CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.

To me, you prioritize SAFETY and then you work on improving that PUBLIC HEALTH APPROACH to CRIMINAL JUSTICE ---
Olmstead Planning could be a big help with that.

Dr. Thomas Insel led the National Institute of Mental Health from 2002-2015.

"The weakness is its lack of validity. Unlike our definitions of ischemic heart disease, lymphoma, or AIDS, the DSM diagnoses are based on a consensus about clusters of clinical symptoms, not any objective laboratory measure.

"In the rest of medicine, this would be equivalent to creating diagnostic systems based on the nature of chest pain or the quality of fever.

"Indeed, symptom-based diagnosis, once common in other areas of medicine, has been largely replaced in the past half century as we have understood that symptoms alone rarely indicate the best choice of treatment.

"Patients with mental disorders deserve better.

NIMH has launched the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project to transform diagnosis by incorporating genetics, imaging, cognitive science, and other levels of information to lay the foundation for a new classification system."

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/directors/thomas-insel/blog/2013/transforming-diagnosis.shtml

THE REAL WORLD

Unfortunately, Criminal Justice and the rest of Society cannot wait for the National Institute of Mental Health to complete RDoC (NIMH'S seemingly responsible and reasonable response to a scientifically invalid DSM.)

BUT those QUESTIONS about a scientifically invalid DSM ---- HAVEN'T GONE AWAY.

Simon Sinek
It's Important to be an Idiot

Great Flood --- Noah & the Ark

Today we are facing a FLOOD OF INFORMATION.

Dr. Elias Zerhouni, Director of the National Institutes of Health (2002-2008 Bush Administration); Served as a Presidential Science Envoy under the Obama Administration.

Neuroinformatics

Celebrating a Decade of Neuroscience Databases: Looking to the Future of High-Throughput Data Analysis, Data Integration, and Discovery Neuroscience (2004)

“The explosion of data about the brain is overwhelming conventional ways of making sense of it," said Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., Director of the National Institutes of Health.

"Like the Human Genome Project, the Human Brain Project is building shared databases in standardized digital form, integrating information from the level of the gene to the level of behavior. These resources will ultimately help us better understand the connection between brain function and human health.”

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26354128/
Information overload in healthcare: too much of a good thing?

The rapidly growing production of healthcare information - both scientific and popular - increasingly leads to a situation of information overload affecting all actors of the healthcare system and threatening to impede the adoption of evidence-based practice.

Interim Procedures

Lawyers and the rest of the Society need to start asking some HARD QUESTIONS about how a scientifically invalid DSM is playing out in the Criminal Justice System.

Mens Rea & A Messy Reality

10/23/2022

In many ways the Criminal Law seems designed to address the ADHD/NEURO-DIVERSE INDIVIDUAL whose emotion or intent is NORMAL IN EVERY WAY EXCEPT INTENSITY.

Further, we need more AWARENESS of these EMOTIONAL REGULATION ISSUES that often seem to come with SYSTEMIC DEVELOPMENTAL INFLAMMATION.

We also need more awareness of EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING ISSUES.

We are a SOCIETY marked by LARGE SCALE low grade, medium grade and high grade inflammation --- these issues are really throughout the population --- even as the EXTREMES may be easier to see in CRIMINAL JUSTICE.

If we start to get a handle on these issues involving:

DEVELOPMENTAL SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION
Emotional Regulation Issues (that may be the result of Hyper-Connected Brains), and
Executive Functioning Issues

We might also see a lot fewer "COVER UPS" by authority figures and lifestyles that are more tailored to the REAL STRENGTHS and CHALLENGES of DIVERSE INDIVIDUALS.

I think it is hard to recognize that many of these "EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING CHALLENGES" are not just in one segment of the Society.

Assessment of ADHD for the Criminal Justice System (2010)

Imperial College London, King's College London

"There is an important relationship between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and antisocial behaviour, and experts are increasingly being asked to advise the courts about the psychological vulnerabilities
and management of defendants with ADHD."

Concept of Mens Rea: Meaning and its judicial interpretation

thefactfactor.com/facts/law/legal_concepts/criminology/mens-rea/16644/

Currans 290, F. 2 d 751 (3rd Cir. 1961) case, Biggs, Chief Justice observed:

“The Concept of Mens Rea, guilty mind, is based on the assumption that a person has the capacity to control his behaviour and to choose between alternative courses of conduct."

The explanation of "mens rea" above contains a pretty nice, neat ASSUMPTION --- it doesn't mesh well with a MESSY REALITY.

Further, it is really a PREDICATE for PUNISHMENT --- NOT SAFETY.

Crap Justice & Crap Services --- They Often Go Together

Mens Rea: The Criminal State of Mind

How POOR TREATMENTS Drive POOR REASONING in the JUSTICE SYSTEM

9/30/2022

Conjecture

BOTTOM LINE: Mental Health has often conflated whether they had a viable treatment to whether the person should be punished.

I think this has also been associated with the PRACTICAL PROBLEM of keeping someone at a Mental Facility with Clinicians who really don't know what to do and we're really at WAREHOUSING.

TRADITIONAL MENTAL HEALTH has a role --- BUT there is a BIG NEED to either EXPAND that ROLE or BRING IN OTHER PROFESSIONALS or maybe BOTH.

This issue of EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING DIFFERENCES is not just about EDUCATING THE PERSON -- it's also EDUCATING OURSELVES, FAMILIES, COMMUNITIES, EMPLOYERS & POLICYMAKERS.

AND "MODIFYING" some of our MODELS.

So PUNISHMENT from an HISTORICAL and PRACTICAL STANDPOINT is very much related to whether:
- we have the RESOURCES for INCARCERATION or SUPERVISION or
- the person seems "REMORSEFUL" and sees the light or
- in MODERN TIMES there is a VIABLE TREATMENT or at least "CONCEPTUALIZATION" that "TREATMENT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE IF WE HAD IT."
BUT that is NOT the CURRENT "LEGAL REASONING" behind "PUNISHMENT" which is founded on this notion of MENS REA (BAD INTENT) + ACTUS REUS (BAD ACT) = Justification for Punishment.
The "REASONING" in our Current Forensic Mental Health Profession is OFF.
- The profession doesn't have a SCIENTIFICALLY VALID DIAGNOSTIC MANUAL--
  - As one might expect, that's throwing a lot of things OFF.
- Most specifically, there's NOT AN UNDERSTANDING of the RELATIONSHIP between NEURO-DEVELOPMENTAL and PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS.
- THAT'S BIG.
So from a PRACTICAL STANDPOINT what we have been prepared to "EXCUSE FROM PUNISHMENT" is MENTAL BREAKDOWN/PSYCHOSIS --- it's on the EXTREME.
- And it is why you can "sometimes" get people who are plenty cognitively impaired or emotionally dysregulated in the Justice System "PRETENDING" to be "PSYCHOTIC."
- And why Mental Facilities such as the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo might resist releasing such a person based on some statutory notion of "MENTAL DEFECT" --
  - because arguably THERE ARE ISSUES.
WHAT ARE THOSE ISSUES?
- There are often EMOTIONAL REGULATION as well as other aspects of EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING.
CONCEPTUALIZATION MATTERS
- It matters for individuals
- Families
- Clinicians
- The Legal System
- Policymakers, and
- The Community
It matters with regard to what kinds of SYSTEMS WE DESIGN.
If we know or have reason to believe that Defendants in the Criminal Justice System have Neuro-Developmental Differences that include EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING DIFFERENCES ---
- We're NOT going to set up PROBATION SERVICES that are going to set people up to FAIL.
- We're going to look for "WORK-AROUNDS" and "ACCOMMODATIONS" for EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING DIFFERENCES.
We're going to build on STRENGTHS.
It might be that "PRESSURED SPEECH" is or might be a sign that the person is OUTSIDE the person's INDIVIDUAL RANGE of HOMEOSTASIS for EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING.
We're living in a Society with "PRESSURED SPEECH" and we have to have SAFETY.

What makes something Kafkaesque?

Tayyab Rashid
"What Are You Good At?"

New Genetic Evidence Suggests a Continuum Among Neurodevelopmental and Psychiatric Disorders (2013)

Another BIG REASONING PROBLEM related to the FAILURE to appreciate the RELATIONSHIP between Neuro-Developmental Differences/Disorders and Psychiatric Disorders:

A lot of people with Neuro-Developmental Differences/Disorders are labelled with a "PERSONALITY DISORDER"

Shared Genes & Psychiatric Disorders

To me this is really a SECULAR SOCIETY'S MORAL JUDGMENT against problematic behavior and greatly abused within the CRIMINAL SYSTEM ---

Especially under the guise of Anti-Social Personality Disorder
- There are often anti-social acts,
- BUT understanding that there are often Neuro-Developmental Challenges under that
  - can change the community's perspective AND
  - the individual's perspective.

This idea of "NARCISSISM" is really really big and "delusions of grandeur" are seen as symptoms of Bipolar Disorder.

If you start to recognize that people with Neuro-Developmental Differences often also have some BIG STRENGTHS that are also the result of RAMPED UP SENSORY PROCESSING ---
I think it can be possible to EXPLAIN these DIFFERENCES in PERCEPTION.

To me, it's not that people with BIG WEAKNESSES can't have BIG STRENGTHS or vice versa ----It's that they often do and those BIG STRENGTHS are often COMPENSATORY.

If we ELEVATE Neuro-Diverse people with BIG STRENGTHS---
We're generally ELEVATING their WEAKNESSES as well.
If we "PUNISH" the Weaknesses of Neuro-Diverse people
- we're often making it impossible for them to use their strengths and
- we're NOT providing VIABLE WORK-AROUNDS or ACCOMMODATIONS for DEVELOPMENTAL EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING CHALLENGES.
- And if people get pushed outside of HOMEOSTASIS or just WANDER outside of that or get ELEVATED outside of that ----
  - That can look PATHOLOGICAL.

Image Credit: Nurse Leader
Workarounds: The Hidden Pathway to Excellence

I think a lot of Neuro-Diverse people whether they are:

incarcerated or
homeless or
"COVERING UP" their EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING CHALLENGES or
living with "INTEGRITY" but STRESSED OUT OF THEIR GOURDS or
BURNING OUT or
BREAKING DOWN

Need to look for some "Work-Arounds" for Planning, Organization, Short-Term Memory Issues, etc. as they are also doing MORE THINGS THAT THEY ENJOY AND ARE GOOD AT.

Trey Kennedy & Jake Triplett
Do Less God Bless

Neuro-Developmental Disorders in the Criminal Justice System

9/13/2022

Warning: TRAUMATIC SUBJECT MATTER

Conjecture

Right now we've been "coming to terms" with the HIGH PERCENTAGE of people with serious and persistent mental illness in the Criminal Justice System.

It's on the EXTREMES and its EASIER TO SEE --- HOLMES, GLEN BURTON AKE in Oklahoma many years ago are EASIER TO SEE.

"Glen Burton Ake was arrested and charged with murdering a couple and wounding their two children in 1979. At his arraignment, his bizarre behavior prompted the judge to order a psychiatric competency evaluation."

Ake v. Oklahoma - Wikipedia

[I was a Sophomore in High School in Oklahoma in 1979 --- It was one of the most heinous crimes I think most people could imagine being committed.

It was at least one of the reasons why my father who was so forward thinking in so many areas --- was not for getting rid of the DEATH PENALTY.

As a young Assistant District Attorney, I remember seeing Glen Burton Ake on REMAND --- apparently shot up with THORAZINE, his head and long stringy hair hanging down as the JUDGE said there would be a special place in HELL for him.

Was it AKE or one of the many others --- I forget.

I remember thinking at the time(s) the JUDGE(S) was/were wasting his/her/their time.

BUT I as a young assistant DA --- nobody cared what I thought -- I wasn't trying death penalty cases --- and at time time I didn't really see the DEATH PENALTY as the BIG ISSUE in Criminal Justice.

The Death Penalty was a BIGGER KEY to CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM than I realized at the time because it was going to FOUNDATIONAL VALUES.

Importantly, heinous crimes that shock the conscience aren't just those resulting in death --- the Kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart certainly qualified. The Mental Health Problems of the Kidnappers of Elizabeth Smart --- were on the EXTREMES and EASIER TO SEE.

I remember hearing of a man in California who had sexually assaulted and cut off the arms of a young girl ---- and thinking I could kill him quite easily myself.

In the last few years, WESTWORD pointed out that NOT GUILTY BY REASON OF INSANITY isn't just for that axe murderer anymore --- which I think we all should take a moment to be GRATEFUL for.

Later, I would work for THE LEGAL CENTER FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES & OLDER PEOPLE ---- I think we both thought the other was quite NAIVE --- often in IRONIC WAYS.

BUT THE TRUTH IS WHILE A SIGNIFICANT PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM HAVE SEVERE & PERSISTENT MENTAL ILLNESS ---

NEURO-DEVELOPMENTAL DIFFERENCES such as ADHD, AUTISM and/or DYSLEXIA are ENDEMIC to the CRIMINAL JUSTICE POPULATION.
Those "SUBSTANCE ISSUES" are often an attempt to "MANAGE" a DYSREGULATED BIOLOGY that can absolutely be made worse by BAD SOCIAL CIRCUMSTANCES.
- EPIGENETICS

Poor Males and Males of Color with Neuro-Developmental Disorders are much more likely to find themselvs in the CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.

We have I think let the BATTLE of the SEXES get OUT OF CONTROL and generally FAIL to RECOGNIZE CAUSES beyond the first link in the chain of causality.

To me this is similar to Henry the VIII blaming his wives for the problems he had in acquiring a male heir.
MALE BAD BEHAVIOR can be a BIG PROBLEM--- probably some of it --- is related in part to MATERNAL IMMUNE ACTIVATION during pregnancy which is associated with both NEURO-DEVELOPMENTAL & PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS.
- That MATERNAL IMMUNE ACTIVATION is quite COMPLICATED and part of it could be in some cases attributed to a BAD SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT --- in other cases --- other factors might be more influentIal.
- Further, there are complicated GENERATIONAL & HISTORIC ISSUES.

Scientific Reality, A Kinder Gentler Nation --- & Making Our Piece with the State of Nature

Allan David Bloom (September 14, 1930 – October 7, 1992) was an American philosopher, classicist, and academician. --- Wikipedia

Breaking Things Down --Lowering the Burden of Proof for Safety--- Getting Rid of Punishment

9/5/2022

Conjecture

Below is information on a beneficial bacteria suicidal people may be missing. There's also work on a blood test for suicidality.

I personally think we're going to find biomarkers for homicidality as well.

One of the things that is going on with Biomarkers is often not as simple as a SINGLE GENE ---

Additionally, there's the "BRAIN" --- but there's a lot going on outside the Central Nervous System --- including the Immune System, the Endocrine System, Metabolism, etc.
There's a lot of "DEVELOPMENTAL DIFFERENCE" out there related to ADHD and/or Autism that is related to MATERNAL IMMUNE ACTIVATION and SYSTEMIC DEVELOPMENTAL INFLAMMATION.
- For people with SYSTEMIC DEVELOPMENTAL INFLAMMATION and an IQ over 70 --- what's out there in terms of TREATMENT & "SUPPORT" is so INADEQUATE it is BURNING OUT and BREAKING DOWN many people.
  - PART OF "PRO-LIFE" is SUPPORTING PEOPLE (ALL PEOPLE) -- INCLUDING AFTER THEY ARE BORN.
There's Epigenetics
There's ENVIRONMENT and
There's the MICROBIOME which is NOT even technically "HUMAN."
All of these things and more have complicated inter-relationships.
When we think about "JUSTICE" --- those "IDEAS" have evolved.
"BURDEN OF PROOF" is one of the "IDEAS" that we came up with to address the EQUITIES of who should bear the BURDEN of bringing forth evidence.

Related Ideas include:PRIMA FACIE ---

Prima facie may be used as an adjective meaning "sufficient to establish a fact or raise a presumption unless disproved or rebutted." An example of this would be to use the term "prima facie evidence."

It may also be used as an adverb meaning "on first appearance but subject to further evidence or information." An example of this would be to use the term "prima facie valid."

A prima facie case is the establishment of a legally required rebuttable presumption. A prima facie case is a cause of action or defense that is sufficiently established by a party's evidence to justify a verdict in his or her favor, provided such evidence is not rebutted by the other party.

I think what has happened over the course of Centuries and currently at a very fast pace is the understanding of the BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF BEHAVIOR.

Stanford Professor Robert Sapolsky's book
Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst Selves makes that PRIMA FACIE CASE for the BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF BEHAVIOR.

Let's just say that the "BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF BEHAVIOR" was NOT the motivating force behind the Origins of the Criminal Law except in an indirect way.

I love this video with Professor Sapolsky --- I think he makes some excellent points with regard to the HISTORICAL TRAJECTORY of our Understanding of Behavior and its Biological Basis.

How Many Angels can dance on the head of a pin and The Free Will vs. Determinism Debate

I don't agree with Sapolsky's framing of the "FREE WILL vs. DETERMINISM DEBATE" and the reason I don't agree with it and really with the construction of the debate itself is because it is RUNNING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION CHRONICALLY and the "ABSOLUTIST" framing bears little relationship to "REALITY" and practical concerns.

I think people want "CONTROL" over their lives and Human Beings have been working to get that "CONTROL."

As we get more UNDERSTANDING of our BIOLOGY and the World Around US --- we can and do get more "CONTROL" --- we often also learn that things were not as they appear or more complicated than we thought.

There are an INFINITE NUMBER OF POINTS between "FREE WILL" and "DETERMINISM" and all around those two points that the DEBATE seems to miss.

BUT unless we someday become gods who are ALL-KNOWING --- WE NEED TO GET OUT OF THE PUNISHMENT BUSINESS.

So maybe Sapolsky is right insofar as our ideas going to "FREE WILL" are foundational to our systems of "PUNISHMENT" --- and we need to get out of PUNISHMENT.

Further, even "GOD" may not be in the PUNISHMENT BUSINESS.

Bishop Carlton Pearson says he received a religious message that there is No Hell.

Mental Health Courts --- Pro & Con

We've started to address biological issues in Criminal Justice much more DIRECTLY in the form of PROBLEM-SOLVING COURTS --- specifically, MENTAL HEALTH COURTS, DRUG COURTS and even VETERANS COURTS.

The BURDEN of PROOF in CRIMINAL LAW is SO HIGH --- PROOF BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT --- WHY?

Because we're talking about "PUNISHMENT" -- often SEVERE PUNISHMENT.

The "BIOLOGICAL BASIS of BEHAVIOR" undermines the RATIONALE for PUNISHMENT --It doesn't undermine the RATIONALE for SAFETY.

On the one hand, we've already developed "CERTIFICATION PROCEDURES" for danger to self or others or gravely disabled ---With a LOWER BURDEN of PROOF than in the Criminal Law.

On the other hand, we have a HEALTH CARE SYSTEM that was overwhelmed by various forms of "COGNITIVE DISABILITY" early on.

It got a lot WORSE with DE-INSTITUTIONALIZATION for many reasons.

Over-Reliance on the "MIRACLE" of psychotropic drugs being one of the issues.

Leading to a FAILURE to INVEST in INTENSIVE SUPPORTS in the COMMUNITY.

Understanding the CONNECTION between DEVELOPMENTAL DIFFERENCES such as ADHD and Autism and PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS and persistent EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING CHALLENGES ---

Could greatly INFORM NEEDED SUPPORTS in the COMMUNITY.
It could also potentially "MITIGATE" some of the COSTS.

University of Florida

Differences in Saliva Bacteria of Students With Recent Suicidal Thoughts (2022)

August 27, 2022

Neuroscience News

Summary:

Students who reported recent suicidal thoughts had different bacterial compositions in their saliva compared to those who did not report suicidal thoughts.

Significantly, suicidal students presented with lower levels of Alloprevotella rava, a bacteria associated with positive brain health, in their saliva samples.

"PERFECTIONISM" and the Failure to Address an Out of Date DSM ---- We Need Interim Procedures

8/24/2022

When we think of "PERFECTIONISM" we often think of young women and eating disorders -- we might think of Karen Carpenter.
But perfectionism and eating disorders impact young men, too.
Further, that "PERFECTIONISM" is very much to be found in our:
- Research Community
- Medical Community and
- Legal Community
That's not all a bad thing, right? It's not.
But especially with Mental Health and the "PRO SOCIAL COMPETENCY EXPERTS" --- there is a "TIMIDITY" to addressing obvious problems and stick your neck out.

The current OUT OF DATE DSM is just such a LARGE, LOOMING ISSUE that REVERBERATES in the Criminal Justice System and throughout the Society.

It can feel a lot "SAFER" to sit up in the BALCONY and pontificate on "NARCISSISM" or "ANTI-SOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER" --------Than it is to address the SERIOUS FOUNDATIONAL ISSUES in one's own profession.

Neuro-Developmental Differences and --What It Really Means to be PRO-LIFE

8/20/2022

Conjecture

When we think of "PRO-LIFE" we think of the Abortion Debate ----
But in so many ways --- LIFE is a "CIRCLE GAME."
We're "CONNECTED" to our parents, grandparents, family tree, society and the environment around us in COMPLICATED WAYS that we "kinda" understand.

We often are having to ADJUST OUR FOCUS from a "TIME PERSPECTIVE" and from a "MICRO to MACRO" Perspective and everything in between.

If we want to get out of the INCARCERATION CRISIS in the US -- we need to do something that feels COUNTER-INTUITIVE and even SCARY given our history of Genocide and Eugenics----

Recognize the Large Incidence of Neuro-Developmental Difference in People with an IQ over 70.
Without the proper SUPPORT, Work-Arounds and Accommodations ----
- A small percentage of this population make up a very large segment of the incarcerated and chronically homeless populations.

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