the US has become a very punitive, very draconian, 0 tolerance society. it starts in the public schools, continues on throughout life. ZERO TOLERANCE! ugh.

I don't know how it is elsewhere, but I've heard that the people who end up in the state hospital here on not guilty by reason of insanity pleas are -not- treated very well, unless they (or their family) are upper class. when a lot of the hospital was shut down, there were cases of people who could have/should have (?) been released a good while ago, but the psychiatrists at the state hospital insisted that they had "untreatable personality disorders," so they needed to be kept indefinitely. Even now, people who end up in the state hospital have a rough time getting out, and when they do get out, they're kept under the control of the state psychiatric system, so...its almost like a life sentence, no matter the original charge. :-(