Mental Health Care for Prisoners

Guest: Dr. Jeffrey L. Metzner, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of Colorado. Elizabeth Smart’s kidnapper and rapist Brian David Mitchell is serving a life sentence in prison. But Wanda Barzee – Smart’s other captor – has just been released from prison. Barzee received a 15-year sentence for pleading guilty but mentally ill to her role in the 2002 crime. While in prison, the state parole board says Barzee refused mental health evaluation. Even so, the board determined she had served her time and they couldn’t keep her any longer. Elizabeth Smart and her family believe Barzee is still a danger and implored officials to reconsider. How is it that someone who admits mental illness underlying a serious crime – and maybe even gets a more lenient sentence as a result of that – can refuse treatment while in prison and then be released back into the public?