CAN it be right – or even possible – to forcibly “cure” a person of mental illness so that they can stand trial and potentially be sentenced to death? In a court hearing last Wednesday in San Diego, California, district judge Larry Burns ruled that doctors in Springfield, Missouri, could continue to to Jared Lee Loughner, who on 8 January shot and killed six people and injured 13, including Democrat congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
Soon after his arrest, Loughner was diagnosed with severe schizophrenia and declared unfit to stand trial. Since then, he has been in a prison hospital.…
