Case Study: Juvenile Court Case
In May 2014, a twelve year old girl was stabbed nineteen times by her two “friends” Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier. They attempted to please a fictional internet character called Slender Man by their deed. The two assailants left the victim for dead in the woods where they had pretended they would play hide and seek. The victim managed to crawl to a bike trail that was nearby where a bicyclist saw her and called for help. Meanwhile, Morgan and Anissa fled the scene and began walking to an area in which they believed the Slender Man mansion would be located. The police caught up with the two girls and took them into custody. While in custody they explained the entire plot, which had been premeditated for several months before acting upon it. The victim survived and returned to school, however, Morgan and Anissa were to remain in juvenile detention center until the courts decide what to do with
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them.
In the state of Wisconsin, crimes of attempted first-degree intentional homicide are supposed to be tried in adult court which has a sentence of sixty-five years, but the lawyers are attempting to get the case moved to juvenile court instead which could be a sentence of only three years for each before being released. While being detained the judged ordered two different doctors to evaluate the girls to see if they had any mental illness. Morgan was then diagnosed with early onset schizophrenia but Anissa was deemed sane, however, both girls were deemed competent to stand trial. As of today, the courts have remained firm on their decision to try the girls in adult court. There are so many ways in which this case defies normal odds and that is why it brings mixed emotions on how to handle the situation. It is because of the outlandish circumstances surrounding the case, media outlets frame the case
differently. In the Journal Sentinel article, we learn more about Morgan’s mental illness and about her unusual behaviors while in detention. The child eats under a table, feeds ants, and watches the weather channel for hours on end. She is not being treated with any medication at the moment and psychiatrist agree that without treatment, her condition will worsen more rapidly. It is also mentioned that Morgan is refusing medical treatment because she does not want to lose her imaginary friends especially Slender Man. Since there is no cure for Schizophrenia, there is fear that it could lead to another violent whim at any moment, the courts believe that the safest place for her to remain is in adult court that would require her to be monitored for much longer once she completes her sentence. In December 2015, the courts sent Morgan to a state mental health facility but by March 2016 the attending doctor stated that her condition was stabilized and that she could return to the detention center. However, the detention center says that it is not equipped to handle forced medication administration on a child since it would require the guards who are not trained medical professionals to hold the child down while the nurse administered the injection. Of course, getting the approval to legal force Morgan to take the medication is also a tricky situation since she would have to be deemed a threat to safety when not medicated but the detention center says she is very well behaved and non-violent. With that said, it will be hard for the prosecutor to argue that she should remain in adult court because she poses a safety threat. The picture of Morgan on the article shows this little girl with un-kept hair wearing old poorly fitting clothes in an attempt to show mental instability by the lack of personal hygiene. The case and article are being framed intentionally to support an insanity defense. It is beneficial to the defense attorney to develop media attention, such as this, around the fact of mental illness and treatment in order to prevent the girl from being charged as an adult. because it would be considered a violation of the 8th amendment against cruel and unusual punishment. The second article from the BBC is not framed with the intent to defend, but instead represents the case for what it is, a violent crime case. It is written very “matter of fact” showing that this is a serious crime. Even the picture of Morgan on the article shows her looking older and well-groomed showing that this was not the mental illness but a simple act of violence against an innocent person. Later in the article, there is mention of how the two girls had been plotting the event for several months and their motive being to become “proxies” for Slender Man. There is also a definition of what Slender Man is for those not aware of the internet character created by members on the “creepypasta” website. This definition is presented in a way of showing how ridiculous the belief in a fictitious character which was clearly known to be fabricated by members. At the end of the article, they present the mugshots of the two teens which is known to be an act of showing the public that the suspects are criminals. At first, I became interested in the case because of my daughter, who is also twelve, had a fascination with this site as well, and I wanted to see if by chance there was something about the website that I might have missed that could encourage teens to commit acts of violence. Later, I began thinking about the case from both a mother’s perspective and also from a mental health perspective. Critically thinking about the case causes many questions and inconsistencies to rise to the surface and thinking about it from a parent perspective causes a complicated emotional reaction which is not easily satisfied with simple facts. There are two sides in which to think about the case from the parent perspective: from the point of view of the victim’s parents, or from the perspective of the perpetrator's parents. From the point of view of the victim's parents, the first article would have enraged me, since it is an attempt to portray one of the perpetrators as another innocent victim of the case since it is not her fault that she was mentally ill. However, the defense of mentally ill does not seem to fit the case since it was premeditated for several months, postponed two times, and involved an accomplice. It would have been more credible that it was the mental illness that caused the violent event if it was unplanned and carried out by a single person. It just doesn’t seem likely that a truly schizophrenic person would commit the crime under the circumstances presented. Individuals who are mentally ill can do bad things that are not associated with their illness and I believe this to be the case with Morgan. With the said, the lawyer should prevent a mental illness defense from being allowed. From the perspective of the perpetrator's parents, there are different perspectives. Imagine that you had a child that committed a very bad crime, along with all the remorse and questions as to where you failed as a parent, there is also the dilemma of loving a child. A parent’s love doesn’t disappear when the child does something bad which is why the push to prove mental illness was involved is so great. Having a child that is mentally ill commit a crime has a way of relieving some of the guilt that the parents feel because mental illness is nobody’s fault. However, there is the remorse for the wrong that was done to the victim and her family as well since it is clearly understandable that the victim’s parents demand that justice is served, but what is just in this case. Mental illness has been used as an excuse for crimes on millions of occasions, but there is debate as to whether or not it should allow for a more lenient sentence since the crime was still committed. Mental illness and crime are a matter of perspective and framing play a large role in the way people side with the case. Even if Morgan is in fact suffering from early onset schizophrenia, there are questions as to what should happen to her. Should she be forced to take medication although she refuses treatment? once stabilized should she be forced to serve her sentence to the fullest extent of the law through adult court even though the crime was allegedly committed while her mental state was untreated and undiagnosed? Can a mentally ill person commit a premeditated crime that was not induced by the illness? Will treatment in a mental health facility rehabilitate a person with a disease that has no cure? These are all questions that are going to need to be considered when the trials occur in the months of September and October of 2017. It is not a simple case, and my sympathy goes out to both sides of the parents since both are dealing with heavy emotional burdens. It will come down to how lawyers on both sides of the case decide to frame their arguments. Surely, the results of this case will set a precedence for future mental health court cases.
them.
In the state of Wisconsin, crimes of attempted first-degree intentional homicide are supposed to be tried in adult court which has a sentence of sixty-five years, but the lawyers are attempting to get the case moved to juvenile court instead which could be a sentence of only three years for each before being released. While being detained the judged ordered two different doctors to evaluate the girls to see if they had any mental illness. Morgan was then diagnosed with early onset schizophrenia but Anissa was deemed sane, however, both girls were deemed competent to stand trial. As of today, the courts have remained firm on their decision to try the girls in adult court. There are so many ways in which this case defies normal odds and that is why it brings mixed emotions on how to handle the situation. It is because of the outlandish circumstances surrounding the case, media outlets frame the case
differently. In the Journal Sentinel article, we learn more about Morgan’s mental illness and about her unusual behaviors while in detention. The child eats under a table, feeds ants, and watches the weather channel for hours on end. She is not being treated with any medication at the moment and psychiatrist agree that without treatment, her condition will worsen more rapidly. It is also mentioned that Morgan is refusing medical treatment because she does not want to lose her imaginary friends especially Slender Man. Since there is no cure for Schizophrenia, there is fear that it could lead to another violent whim at any moment, the courts believe that the safest place for her to remain is in adult court that would require her to be monitored for much longer once she completes her sentence. In December 2015, the courts sent Morgan to a state mental health facility but by March 2016 the attending doctor stated that her condition was stabilized and that she could return to the detention center. However, the detention center says that it is not equipped to handle forced medication administration on a child since it would require the guards who are not trained medical professionals to hold the child down while the nurse administered the injection. Of course, getting the approval to legal force Morgan to take the medication is also a tricky situation since she would have to be deemed a threat to safety when not medicated but the detention center says she is very well behaved and non-violent. With that said, it will be hard for the prosecutor to argue that she should remain in adult court because she poses a safety threat. The picture of Morgan on the article shows this little girl with un-kept hair wearing old poorly fitting clothes in an attempt to show mental instability by the lack of personal hygiene. The case and article are being framed intentionally to support an insanity defense. It is beneficial to the defense attorney to develop media attention, such as this, around the fact of mental illness and treatment in order to prevent the girl from being charged as an adult. because it would be considered a violation of the 8th amendment against cruel and unusual punishment. The second article from the BBC is not framed with the intent to defend, but instead represents the case for what it is, a violent crime case. It is written very “matter of fact” showing that this is a serious crime. Even the picture of Morgan on the article shows her looking older and well-groomed showing that this was not the mental illness but a simple act of violence against an innocent person. Later in the article, there is mention of how the two girls had been plotting the event for several months and their motive being to become “proxies” for Slender Man. There is also a definition of what Slender Man is for those not aware of the internet character created by members on the “creepypasta” website. This definition is presented in a way of showing how ridiculous the belief in a fictitious character which was clearly known to be fabricated by members. At the end of the article, they present the mugshots of the two teens which is known to be an act of showing the public that the suspects are criminals. At first, I became interested in the case because of my daughter, who is also twelve, had a fascination with this site as well, and I wanted to see if by chance there was something about the website that I might have missed that could encourage teens to commit acts of violence. Later, I began thinking about the case from both a mother’s perspective and also from a mental health perspective. Critically thinking about the case causes many questions and inconsistencies to rise to the surface and thinking about it from a parent perspective causes a complicated emotional reaction which is not easily satisfied with simple facts. There are two sides in which to think about the case from the parent perspective: from the point of view of the victim’s parents, or from the perspective of the perpetrator's parents. From the point of view of the victim's parents, the first article would have enraged me, since it is an attempt to portray one of the perpetrators as another innocent victim of the case since it is not her fault that she was mentally ill. However, the defense of mentally ill does not seem to fit the case since it was premeditated for several months, postponed two times, and involved an accomplice. It would have been more credible that it was the mental illness that caused the violent event if it was unplanned and carried out by a single person. It just doesn’t seem likely that a truly schizophrenic person would commit the crime under the circumstances presented. Individuals who are mentally ill can do bad things that are not associated with their illness and I believe this to be the case with Morgan. With the said, the lawyer should prevent a mental illness defense from being allowed. From the perspective of the perpetrator's parents, there are different perspectives. Imagine that you had a child that committed a very bad crime, along with all the remorse and questions as to where you failed as a parent, there is also the dilemma of loving a child. A parent’s love doesn’t disappear when the child does something bad which is why the push to prove mental illness was involved is so great. Having a child that is mentally ill commit a crime has a way of relieving some of the guilt that the parents feel because mental illness is nobody’s fault. However, there is the remorse for the wrong that was done to the victim and her family as well since it is clearly understandable that the victim’s parents demand that justice is served, but what is just in this case. Mental illness has been used as an excuse for crimes on millions of occasions, but there is debate as to whether or not it should allow for a more lenient sentence since the crime was still committed. Mental illness and crime are a matter of perspective and framing play a large role in the way people side with the case. Even if Morgan is in fact suffering from early onset schizophrenia, there are questions as to what should happen to her. Should she be forced to take medication although she refuses treatment? once stabilized should she be forced to serve her sentence to the fullest extent of the law through adult court even though the crime was allegedly committed while her mental state was untreated and undiagnosed? Can a mentally ill person commit a premeditated crime that was not induced by the illness? Will treatment in a mental health facility rehabilitate a person with a disease that has no cure? These are all questions that are going to need to be considered when the trials occur in the months of September and October of 2017. It is not a simple case, and my sympathy goes out to both sides of the parents since both are dealing with heavy emotional burdens. It will come down to how lawyers on both sides of the case decide to frame their arguments. Surely, the results of this case will set a precedence for future mental health court cases.