When a judge sentences probation and mental help instead of jail

[philip964]

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/c ... 615421002/

“Long criminal history here in Sumner County for the man suspected of killing 7 people and critically injuring another. I’ve been at 2 courthouses, the Sumner County Jail and at the DA’s office and this is what I have:
August 2012: An order of protection was taken out by his child’s mother, who was 17 at the time. She claims in the protective order that Cummins is stalking her.
December 2012: An officer in Westmoreland, TN sees a car parked at an abandoned business. Cummins, a friend and his child’s mother are in the car. Cummins is arrested for violating the order of protection against the 17-year-old and six oxycodone pills were found on him.
January 2013: Cummins is convicted and is sentenced to random drug screening.
August 2, 2013: Violates probation by testing positive for marijuana.
Aug 19, 2013: Arrested for domestic violence against his aunt. He told police he “blacked out with anger and began throwing things at this aunt and tearing up the house when she accused him of stealing money.
Aug 21, 2013: Cummins is charged for violation of probation due to the domestic assault charge.
September 2013: He pleaded guilty to all and he’s sentenced to 150 days in jail.
Things are relatively quiet but then in 2017, Cummins re-emerges.
Feb 2017: He’s charged with stealing a neighbor’s turkey and with evading arrest.
April 2017: He’s found guilty of evading arrest and theft of property and is sentenced to supervised probation for a year. He’s also required to complete mental health treatment.
May 6, 2017: Charged with robbery and domestic assault after he steals medication from his grandma’s purse and uses her hair to move her.
June 17, 2017: He’s arrested
Aug 2, 2017: He goes to to court for the charges and is found guilty. They release him on time served and require him to attend domestic violence classes.
Sept 13, 2017: He’s charged with aggravated arson and aggravated assault after he sets fire to his neighbor’s house, attacks her and threatens that when he gets out of jail he will “finish the job.”
The case is bound over to Circuit Court.
July 2018: Pleads no contest to attempted aggravated arson and aggravated assault. Sentenced to 180 days and 10 years state probation.
April 26, 2019: His probation officer says Cummins did not complete the mental health evaluation like he was supposed to so he goes to take out a warrant for his arrest.
April 27, 2019: Cummins is wanted for murdering 7 people.
The Sumner County DA, Ray Whitley, told me it’s not uncommon to sentence someone to probation and require them to get mental health treatment to improve their lives. It’s better to get someone help than to leave them in jail, said Whitley. However, he said repeat offenders are an issue in the criminal justice system but that you can’t predict human behavior. “If we would have known what he was going to do, we would never have let him out.” “. From Jessica Janglois

Doesn’t say he used a gun to kill all seven of his relatives.

We have a very poor record when it comes to mental illness and locking people up. We are more concerned about their rights. He didn’t finish off the neighbor he tried to burn to death and failed. Judge order him to stay away from her after he promised to kill her and I guess he did.

[DynamicDan]

Yes, mental health is the real problem in all gun violence.

[anygunanywhere]

Yes, mental health is the real problem in all gun violence.

I disagree. Evil has more to do with violence than mental health. I believe that most people who suffer from mental illness are not violent.

Also we need to stop using the communist term “gun violence”. I have never seen a violent weapon. The two rifles I have with me in my hunting blind are behaving themselves nicely while we wait on wild hogs or an exotic game animal.

[DynamicDan]

People who shoot other people have emotional problems that they can't control. Therefore it is a mental health issue.

[anygunanywhere]

Our opinions carry equal weight.

[Jusme]

People who shoot other people have emotional problems that they can't control. Therefore it is a mental health issue.

Perhaps, but they do not need to be let back out on the streets, with those of us, who obey laws, and understand that it's not all about our own needs, or wants. This person continually demonstrated, that he was not capable of following these simple rules. I am not a psychiatrist, but, I do know, that if he had been incarcerated, 7 people would still be alive, and several others would not have been subjected, to his cruelty. I believe that people can be rehabilitated, but, evidently, no one wanted to see the continuing escalation of this cretin's crimes, and he had no inclination to change. I guess now, they will put him away, but it's 7 people too late. Good job leftist judges.

[DynamicDan]

Well, incarceration or proper mental health care whatever works.

[philip964]

Well, incarceration or proper mental health care whatever works.

Incarceration with proper mental heath care until they have completed their normal sentences.

I’m not a fan of not guilty by reason of insanity.

[ELB]

Most mentally ill are not violent, but mental illness is a large factor in criminal violence, especially the mass or serial types. The US essentially dismantled its system for dealing with the seriously mentally ill back in the 1960s and 1970s, which eventually resulted in the increased number of homeless and a large number of the imprisoned (the incarceration rates at the beginning and end of the 20th century are nearly the same, but the location of incarceration has shifted from mental institution to prison). Yet there is still a bias against treating the seriously mentally ill against their will, even when they repeatedly display seriously dangerous (to themselves or others) behavior. Short holds, Rx for medicine, and kick them loose for outpatient care which they soon don't show up for, lather/rinse/repeat, until they die on their own or get long term prison sentences.