One of the drawbacks of living in a free society where one is governed by laws is that occasionally the well-intended laws backfire. The results of the Tonia Kigas verdict are a clear example of some of the problems that can arise when the legal system becomes embroiled with the mental health system.

Most people realize that in this country those who suffer mental disorders cannot be held criminally responsible for their action under the law. In the case of Tonia Kigas, once …”two psychiatrists testified that Kigas was a paranoid schizophrenic, and that she suffered from the illness at least six months to a year before Tavielle died…” there was no other verdict that Justice Mills could have handed down except …”not guilty by reason of insanity …” If Justice Mills had found that Tonia Kigas was criminally responsible for her daughter’s death the decision would more than likely have been reversed on appeal.

The basic problem, as I see it, is that mental illness is so subjective in nature that it defies positive valuations. Another problem is that the state does not assume responsibility (guardianship) for many of its mentally ill clients. So society is left unprotected from any criminal acts that a mentally ill person may commit. Many of our mentally ill citizens who need medication are released into communities yet have no guardian or any other person to ensure that they are taking their prescribed medication.

In this case the problem is not with our legal system but with the sham of the mental health system of this state and many other states which are severely under-funded. The mental health system releases people into society who end up being prosecuted and sent into the penal system because it is more popular to provide money for criminal justice rather than mental health.

From now on the public may never hear of Tonia Kigas, who will be cloaked in a screen of bureaucratic anonymity by the mental health system. We can only hope that the mental health system will have sufficient funds to ensure that after Tonia Kigas is released she does not decide that someone else is “evil or disobedient” and do them in. Paul Hanson Old Town A bad example