Not guilty by reason of insanity

For years Bill and Tena Neely struggled to get appropriate and consistent treatment for their daughter Tracy, diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. Even after Tracy shot her mother at the family’s home, the Neelys still had to fight to get treatment for Tracy. As one advocate noted, in South Carolina,

“… mentally ill people usually go to prison, where they may get little or no treatment.”

Tracy Neely’s family fought hard for her to get a rare “not guilty by reason of insanity” verdict – one of only 7 such decisions statewide last year. Now she is receiving treatment in a mental health center instead of serving time in prison. Her dad offers advice to other family members in similar situations:

"There's no rulebook. You've just gotta hit it as hard as you can and as fast as you can to save your daughter."

Good advice for families. But what about all of those with severe mental illness who don’t have someone to fight the system to get them treatment?

Misunderstanding the law

Too often, even in states that have the option of assisted outpatient treatment, the prevailing belief is that the only option is inpatient commitment - and even then only after someone becomes dangerous.

That just is not true in many places. Make sure you know where your state stands, so if you hear this from a mental health provider, law enforcement officer, or other professional, or even read it in the paper, you can correct it.