FAQ about the MVFHR-NAMI project « Thread Started on May 22, 2008, 1:47pm »
Frequently Asked Questions about the MVFHR-NAMI death penalty and mental illness project
We’ve drawn up this FAQ to respond to some questions about what criteria we are using in determining which families to interview. Please ask if you have further questions.
We are looking for individuals who fit either or both of these profiles: family members of victims killed by persons suffering from mental illness, and family members of mentally ill offenders who have been executed. Further clarifications are as follows: Does the project include family members of people on death row?
No. Just as MVFHR members are relatives of people who have been killed, either by an individual or by the state, so does this project focus on relatives of people who have already been killed. We have found that maintaining that distinct focus, as an organization (or a project) of people who have lost a loved one to murder or execution, helps keep our message distinctly powerful. We have also found, through our No Silence, No Shame project, which focused specifically on how executions harm surviving family members, that the needs of and issues pertaining to families of the executed are in some crucial ways distinct from the needs of and issues pertaining to families of those on death row – though there are naturally some overlapping concerns as well.
In the course of telling these stories and talking about these issues, we do sometimes make reference to conditions on death row or the experience of death row.
When you say you want to find family members of victims killed by persons suffering from mental illness, do you mean “persons suffering from mental illness who were then sentenced to death or executed? In other words, does the case have to have been a capital case?”
No. As with any of the family members of murder victims who oppose the death penalty and whose stories comprise MVFHR’s materials and presentations, the offender’s sentence is not a criterion. If you look at our online Gallery of Victims’ Stories, for example, you’ll see that among the stories of victims’ family members that we feature, varying legal outcomes resulted: some were capital cases, some were not; in some instances the offender has been executed, in others the offender might be serving life, or a lesser prison sentence, or have already been released. All that is relevant (for membership within MVFHR) is that one be a family member of a murder victim and be opposed to the death penalty.
The same is true for the mental illness project. We apply the same criteria as for MVFHR membership, with the additional factor that the offender must have suffered from severe mental illness.
How do you define “suffering from mental illness”?
The ABA recommendations, which we are using as our guide, talk about “severe disorders or disabilities,” which mental health professionals would term “Axis I diagnoses” and which generally involve delusions, hallucinations, mania, dissociation, and other acute symptoms that significantly impair individuals’ ability to think rationally and appreciate consequences of actions. See the ABA guidelines for a more detailed discussion, or simply check with us if you aren’t sure whether a particular story would be appropriate.
Whose determination are you using when deciding whether a given person suffered from severe mental illness?
This is a more complex question than we can take up fully here, but here is a brief answer that we hope will convey the essence of our criteria:
A reasonable person should find, based on facts documented in pleadings or opinions (and/or in doctors’ or mental health professionals’ diagnoses made before the crime was committed), that the person would fall within one of the ABA categories, even if the courts allowed a death sentence or allowed the execution to proceed.
It is likely that, if the court or medical record is too slim AND the mental illness or its symptoms are not of long standing, we will consider the person’s story to fall outside the parameters of this project.
Do you mean suffering from mental illness at the time of the crime, or the trial, or the execution?
The ABA recommendations talk about all three, and we are open to considering stories involving any of these situations. It’s our general feeling, and this has been affirmed by several members of the project’s advisory group, that stories involving severe mental illness at the time of the crime are particularly likely to be compelling, especially to more skeptical readers, and so we will be most interested in finding stories like these – and, even more so, stories in which there is a documented history of mental illness and effort to secure appropriate treatment before the crime was committed. However, we are also ready to consider stories that fall all along the spectrum, and we believe that examples of offenders clearly suffering from severe mental illness at the time of a pending execution, and being medicated in order to pass a competency test for execution, are also compelling.
Do the family members have to be opposed to the death penalty?
In general, yes. MVFHR members oppose the death penalty in all cases, and for this project we are following the same criteria as exists for MVFHR membership, with the additional factor of the defendant’s suffering from mental illness. It’s possible that someone who fit one of the profiles and who felt ambivalent or undecided about the death penalty in general, but did feel that people suffering from mental illness should not be sentenced to death, would feel comfortable being included in such a project, and in that case we would certainly want to consider their story.
Mental Illness and the Death Penalty « Reply #1 on May 22, 2008, 1:48pm »
Mental Illness and the Death Penalty
A Joint Project of
Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights
and the
National Alliance on Mental Illness
Project Description
Background
Murder Victims’ Families for Human rights is a national organization of relatives of homicide victims and relatives of people who have been executed, all of whom oppose the death penalty in all cases. MVFHR opposes the death penalty from a victim perspective (asserting that executions do not help victims achieve justice or closure) and from a human rights perspective (asserting that executions violate the most basic of human rights). Within MVFHR’s membership are relatives of victims killed by persons suffering from mental illness and relatives of mentally ill offenders who have been executed.
NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) is the nation’s largest grassroots organization for people with mental illness and their families. Founded in 1979, NAMI has affiliates in every state and in more than 1,100 local communities across the country. NAMI’s members and friends work to fulfill its mission through support, education and advocacy for better mental health treatment and services. NAMI opposes the death penalty for people with mental illnesses, believing that the execution of these individuals compounds the tragedy of violent crimes and serves no purpose in deterring similar crimes.
MVFHR and NAMI are united in the belief that persons suffering from mental illness should be treated, not executed. Both groups are interested in preventing the conditions that lead to criminal violence and in raising public awareness about the effect of sentencing mentally ill offenders to death. As NAMI Executive Director Michael Fitzpatrick said in a statement in 2006, the death penalty for mentally ill offenders represents “a profound injustice … at the most painful intersection of the mental healthcare and criminal justice systems in America.”
These two organizations have come together to draw attention to the intersection between the death penalty and mental illness from the victims’ perspective. We view this project as a contribution to the broader campaign that seeks to end executions of mentally ill offenders through litigation and legislation.
What we’re going to do
Organize and host a gathering of family members of victims killed by persons suffering from mental illness and family members of mentally ill offenders who have been executed. The gathering, which will be the first of its kind, will take place in Texas in August 2008, and will include a facilitated private meeting among the families and a public ceremony and press conference. Publish a report that will be released at NAMI’s July 2009 conference, which will be held in San Francisco. The report will be based on interviews with 20-30 family members who fit the above profiles, and will include policy recommendations and other useful information.
What we’re looking for
Murder victims’ family members who are, specifically
Family members of victims killed by someone suffering from severe mental illness Opposed to the death penalty Families of the executed who are, specifically
Family members of someone who suffered from severe mental illness and was executed Opposed to the death penalty Family members who are related to both the victim and the mentally ill offender, because the murder involved one family member taking the life of another within the same family
(A FAQ with more detailed information about criteria for fitting the profile is available)
How you can help
Refer us to families fitting one of these profiles, or refer us to other people or groups or organizations who might be sources of information about such families Help us cover the costs of bringing family members to the gathering and public event in Texas by making a donation or recommending potential sources of financial support for this and other aspects of the project
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