Vermont bill would create a prison-based forensic facility for people found unfit for trial or legally insane
The proposal responds to cases like that of James Perry Jr., 70, who was found not guilty by reason of insanity after killing his daughter in 2021 and could not be held in prison, but was judged not to need prolonged hospitalization. He was placed in an unlocked community residential program. Vermont has no competency restoration program, and defendants found incompetent must be transferred from prison within 21 days to mental health custody, which can discharge them quickly if hospitalization is not warranted.
Civil liberties advocates argue the approach violates constitutional protections and that community services often succeed without secure confinement; a prosecutor argued that the current system can return a dangerous person to the street untreated.
Source: Vermont Lawmakers Consider Facility for Mentally Ill Offenders — Seven Days, by Colin Flanders
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