Super Max or Psych Ward?

[moonlilly1981]

This mans eyes just send shivers down my spine.

Convicted Killer Called Most Dangerous Man In Md.
Reporting
Mary Bubala BALTIMORE (WJZ) ― Convicted killer Kevin Johns is called the most dangerous man in Maryland. He's behind bars, but some fear he could kill again.

Mary Bubala explains why this prisoner is such a problem for the state.

The state says Johns is a "time bomb waiting to explode." Police say he's "got a contract with the devil."

He is a vicious killer. His first victim was his own uncle. Once behind bars, he killed again--twice.

Now he sits in solitary confinement at Supermax in Baltimore, where many fear he will find a way to kill again.

"He told the judge, `I am going to kill again the first chance I get," said Melissa Rodriguez.

She knows all too well Kevin Johns' violent nature. He killed her son, Philip Parker Jr., on board a prison bus in February 2005. In a grisly confession, Johns admitted he choked Parker with his arm chains and finished him off with a razor blade.

In June, Judge Emory Plitt found Kevin Johns guilty of Parker's death. But because of his long history of mental illness, held him not criminally responsible.

Now Johns presents a serious problem for the state of Maryland because for the first time ever someone found not criminally responsible is housed at Supermax instead of a state mental institution.

The dilemma is in prison, Johns cannot be forcefully medicated for his mental illness like he can be at the psychiatric hospital. He can only be offered treatment.

No one will say for sure whether Kevin Johns is actually taking his medication as he sits in Supermax. Why is this a concern? Records show every time Johns has killed, he's been off his meds.

"There are three homicides in his lifetime. That's not a good record but in each case, the homicide was preceded by no medication or improper medication," said Harry Trainor, Johns' attorney.

Trainor says Johns must be medicated, by force if necessary.

"He's battling mental illness now, almost completely on his own," he said.

But is Johns refusing his medication? The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene will only tell Eyewitness News, "Johns has been offered appropriate clinical services and he will continue to be offered treatment."

The bottom line is that no one wants Kevin Johns, not the guards at Supermax and not Perkins. But his victims' families say he has to be dealt with or tragedy will follow.

"Yes, he does need to be someplace where he will be medicated so people around him can be safe," Rodriguez said, "and I don't know what the state of Maryland is going to do."

Kevin Johns remains in solitary confinement and is always restrained around staff or other inmates. When out of his cell, he's always in leg irons and a waist chain.

Defense attorneys are challenging the decision to keep Johns at Supermax. The issue is now before the Court of Special Appeals.

http://wjz.com/specialreports/kevin.johns.2.865838.html

Okay I could not decide where to post this so im sticking it here. But my question for all your DD is what do you think? Should this man stay in a super max prison in solitare for the rest of his life not being forced to take medication? Or should he be locked away in a psych hospital forced to take his medication the rest of his life?

My fear with putting him in a psych hospital is that he would be deemed "stable" and released just to murder again. That man looks like pure evil to me.

[blue_zombie]

MHO is ship him to a state that has the death penalty, then no one but God has to deal with his sorry ass!

Great question! I'm not sure which would be the better option. Clearly he isn't fit to be anywhere, so what do you do? He's likely to harm anyone and everyone in his path, how can you knowingly put people in jeopardy like that? Either way, someone is going to get hurt. Can they just strap him down somewhere and continue to inject him on an hourly basis to keep him comatose????

[Gidget]

But my question for all your DD is what do you think? Should this man stay in a super max prison in solitare for the rest of his life not being forced to take medication? Or should he be locked away in a psych hospital forced to take his medication the rest of his life?

My fear with putting him in a psych hospital is that he would be deemed "stable" and released just to murder again. That man looks like pure evil to me.

If it were a dog that had killed repeatedly, authorities would have it put down. I think the same rule should apply here as well.

[MichaelJCheaney]

Ok so if you put this guy in a mental hospital he gets treatment, I suppose the upside to this is he is supervised and gets treatment.

However it seems to me that while in the Mental Hospital you would also need to hold him in a secure, solitary type cell, for the reason alone that he has killed 3x already. I suppose the upside to that is when and if he is deemed OK, he will be shipped back to Maryland Supermax, to presumably finish out his sentences for the other 2 murders, which I am guessing both carry life without parole, and are running consecutively.

I say screw it lot him rot in solitary. Perhaps he will save the taxpayers money by killing himself next.

[DarkPrincess]

We shouldn't even have super max facilities. People who are so dangerous they have to be in solitary in a "super max" prison, should be executed. Stop wasting taxpayer money and endangering lives keeping useless murderers alive.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

They need to change the guidelines so that a prisoner in SuperMax can be forcibly medicated if needed. Since it is the first time it's happened, I doubt it would be too often it would be used.

[RaVen Blackehart]

He does look completely evil, the human equivalent of a great white(?) shark. Errrr, you know what I mean, pure predator, no conscience. Crazy as a shithouse rat. In New York, there is a prison hospital that used to be called the Mattawan Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Now it's called Fishkill Correctional Facility, I think people like this wacknut should be put in places such as these for the safety of the public.

http://www.correctionhistory.org/htm.../fishkill.html

Or, they could have him declared a threat to National Security and just hold him indefinitely.

[Unamused Cat]

Supermax with meds in his food.

[DarkPrincess]

Supermax with meds in his food.

And by "meds" you mean cyanide, right?

[Unamused Cat]

And by "meds" you mean cyanide, right?

That works for me.

[Harley_Tech]

• Sodium Thiopental (lethal dose - sedates person)
• Pancuronium Bromide (muscle relaxant-collapses diaphragm and lungs)
• Potassium Chloride (stops heart beat)
• The offender is usually pronounced dead approximately 7 minutes after the lethal injection begins.

Cost per execution for drugs used : $86.08


R

[SplitBreast]

MHO is ship him to a state that has the death penalty, then no one but God has to deal with his sorry ass!

Great question! I'm not sure which would be the better option. Clearly he isn't fit to be anywhere, so what do you do? He's likely to harm anyone and everyone in his path, how can you knowingly put people in jeopardy like that? Either way, someone is going to get hurt. Can they just strap him down somewhere and continue to inject him on an hourly basis to keep him comatose????

Medicated or not, solitary is the only option as long as he is in a state without the death penalty. If he is out of solitary he will kill again.

We shouldn't even have super max facilities. People who are so dangerous they have to be in solitary in a "super max" prison, should be executed. Stop wasting taxpayer money and endangering lives keeping useless murderers alive.

Completely agree. Too bad most of this country never will.

[DarkPrincess]

• Sodium Thiopental (lethal dose - sedates person)
• Pancuronium Bromide (muscle relaxant-collapses diaphragm and lungs)
• Potassium Chloride (stops heart beat)
• The offender is usually pronounced dead approximately 7 minutes after the lethal injection begins.

Cost per execution for drugs used : $86.08


R

Hmmm... Still too expensive. Get rid of the sedative.

[Harley_Tech]

Hmmm... Still too expensive. Get rid of the sedative.

.22 shells $.03 each three to the nasal cavity should do.

R

[DarkPrincess]

.22 shells $.03 each three to the nasal cavity should do.

R

Now you're talkin'!

[Sister Iroz]

The state says Johns is a "time bomb waiting to explode."

Then I say make an exception and give him the death penalty and the sooner the better.

They need to change the guidelines so that a prisoner in SuperMax can be forcibly medicated if needed. Since it is the first time it's happened, I doubt it would be too often it would be used.

I totally agree! Why can't the nurse or Dr. that works for the prison system make sure he gets his daily medicine. Also, didn't the article comment that they didn't say for sure at the psychiatric ward he gets his medicine. Than WTF I'd rather him be in jail not getting it then the psychiatric ward.

[maryhaze]

i agree with Harley, put him 6' under & he won't bother anyone anymore.

[LissaLou]

Shoot him. Quick, easy, done, dead.

[crickett]

I have worked the psych unit at more than one prison....yes they CAN mandate meds at the prison and ensure that he takes them. Even if that means that 6 officers in full body armor with a shield and mace (can the size of a fire extinguisher) have to go in and strap him down first....yeah, his meds CAN be mandated
But, I DO agree with the above...just kill this worthless POS...he's not worth fucking with, he's not rehabilitatable...hell, no other inmate is even safe around him...and as sure as a worker lets down their guard, he'll killl them

[CPL CHUD]

Of course the grief for this man's victims should outweigh any sympathy one may feel for this man, but none the less I still feel a sliver of sorrow for him. If free will is an illusion, which I suspect it to be, his lack of restrain, which can only be absolved via medication, has been denied, thus failing to suppress the chemical triggers in his biology that result in violent response. It must be liken to having an insatiable, nearly uncontrollable urge to eat chocolate while simultaneously being allergic to it, all the while being surrounded by it and denied any hunger suppressants to fight it.

The criminal system and our petty ideas about justice hardly rectify or adhere to the hand dealt to us by nature; these cases show what an ill fit some of our policies are in dealing with extreme behavioral problems. These social extremities may have actually flourished during our many years of tribal warfare, the ache to grasp branches still shivering from our fingers. We have yet to shed the beast.

[crickett]

Of course the grief for this man's victims should outweigh any sympathy one may feel for this man, but none the less I still feel a sliver of sorrow for him. If free will is an illusion, which I suspect it to be, his lack of restrain, which can only be absolved via medication, has been denied, thus failing to suppress the chemical triggers in his biology that result in violent response. It must be liken to having an insatiable, nearly uncontrollable urge to eat chocolate while simultaneously being allergic to it, all the while being surrounded by it and denied any hunger suppressants to fight it.

The criminal system and our petty ideas about justice hardly rectify or adhere to the hand dealt to us by nature; these cases show what an ill fit some of our policies are in dealing with extreme behavioral problems. These social extremities may have actually flourished during our many years of tribal warfare, the ache to grasp branches still shivering from our fingers. We have yet to shed the beast.

uh...yeah..bull**hack, hack...hairball..shit

[CPL CHUD]

uh...yeah..bull**hack, hack...hairball..shit

That's not very helpful.

[Wicked Doll]

A thrice-convicted killer whom Maryland officials considered too dangerous to be treated at the state's secure psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane died in an apparent suicide yesterday at the Supermax prison in Baltimore, corrections officials said.

Guards conducting a routine check found Kevin G. Johns, 25, in his cell and hanging from a bedsheet, said Harry J. Trainor Jr., one of Johns's defense attorneys. Guards were required to check on Johns every 15 minutes, Trainor said.

According to a statement by the state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, Johns's body was found about midnight. Emergency medical personnel were summoned, but efforts to revive Johns were unsuccessful. Paramedics pronounced Johns dead at the scene, the statement said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...032301665.html

[RaVen Blackehart]

What a complete waste of life.

[seductress]

There ya go guys, saved the taxpayers alot of money and there is no more debate of what to do with him.

But, each state should look at this case and look at their own laws and make changes where necessary

[Just my luck sucks]

A thrice-convicted killer whom Maryland officials considered too dangerous to be treated at the state's secure psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane died in an apparent suicide yesterday at the Supermax prison

Quite suddenly and inexplicably I have a soft spot in my heart for this guy.