INSANITY DEFENSE LEAVES GATE OPEN FOR EARLY RELEASE

As they endured another holiday without their daughter, the parents of Sherry Downey Grass were shocked to learn last December that the man who murdered Sherry was being released to enjoy the New Year's holiday weekend with his parents. A court had ordered the release of Lloyd Grass, who pleaded insanity to the fatal stabbing of his wife, Sherry, after only 14 months of confinement.

Sherry's parents had no voice in this matter. There was little consideration as to what effect his release would have on them. There was little, if any, consideration for the risk his release placed on the public during the holiday.

While our office was successful in putting an early end to his weekend getaway, the case is in court to determine whether this many has been cured of a psychosis (which, according to the psychiatrists, prevented him from knowing that it was wrong to murder his wife) to the extent that he can be gradually released back into society.

Common sense would dictate this isn't possible. Common sense would dictate that someone so dangerous as to murder his wife and so mentally ill only 14 months ago, shouldn't be released into society.

Unfortunately, our laws governing the criminally insane have evolved past common sense to the point that they put the needs of the criminal above the needs of the victims and the safety of society. This must change.

I am calling on the Legislature to make commonsense changes in Missouri law that will move our legal system back to the rational center. We must correct the unjustifiable evolution in our laws that considers only the well-being of the criminal.

We must restore the balance. A number of bills are being introduced in the Missouri Legislature this session in an effort to make immediate changes in the law. I am calling for the Legislature to:

- Eliminate laws which currently guarantee that violent criminals are kept in the least restrictive environment. Persons found not guilty by reason of insanity are committed to the custody of the Department of Mental Health not because they are mentally ill, but because they are mentally ill and dangerous. Yet there is no consideration given for their dangerousness while they are in these facilities.

- Require state officials to make safety of society and the concerns of the victims the primary consideration in making placement determinations.

- Ensure that the rights provided to crime victims, including the right to be notified of all legal proceedings and release hearings, are also provided to victims of the criminally insane.

- Restrict the power to release these criminal to the court in the community where they were convicted. The ultimate decision for all releases should be made by the court most knowledgeable about the person and the violent crime that resulted in his commitment -- the criminal court where he was tried and committed, not the probate court in a county far away from the victims and other people who face the greatest risk if the person is released.

- Raise the burden of proof for patients seeking releases. Currently, a person can be permanently released from custody by meeting the lowest possible burden of proof: a 51 percent chance that they won't hurt anyone. A person who commits a violent crime should face the highest possible burden of proof allowed by law before being released.

- Eliminate the special rights granted to violent offenders in mental facilities, including the right to receive sealed packages, to receive visitors of their own choosing and to make unmonitored telephone calls, all of which could be a threat to the safety and well-being of others.

- Require court orders for any release of a person who has committed a dangerous felony. Currently, these people can receive a trial release based solely upon approval of the monitoring agency personnel.

These changes need to be made immediately to provide protections in our current system. Missouri must also decide if there continues to be a need for the plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.

The need for commonsense changes in Missouri laws is pressing. Unfortunately, the evolution of the not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity laws in Missouri follows an all-too-familiar pattern as the focus has turned to special-interest groups at the expense of the public at large.

Last year we made great strides in returning balance to a system which had obstructed juvenile justice laws to the extent they were protecting juveniles who committed assault, murder and other violent acts.

Before changes were made in the law, the young victim of a teen-age rapist was force to face the reality that her attacker would be back in her school or neighborhood in a few months. A juvenile murderer was automatically released when he turned 18, with no court record, no follow-up and no protection for society.

Last year we also made commonsense changes in the law to deter inmates from clogging the legal system by filing frivolous lawsuits that had no merit and were filed for the simple reason of harassing lawyers, judges and corrections officials.

This year we must demand changes in laws which allow the criminally insane to be released at the risk of society. We must fight, once again, for commonsense changes that will restore balance to Missouri laws.

Jay Nixon is Missouri's attorney general.