Please respond to the following questions based on the readings:

1. How is mental illness relevance to competence to stand trial? Does having a major mental illness, such as a psychotic disorder, automatically make one incompetent to stand trial? Can someone be incompetent to stand trial without having a mental illness?

2. The standard for competency is defined in Dusky v. U.S. (1960) as sufficient ability to assist one's attorney and having a factual and rational understanding of the case and trial proceedings. It is a "low" bar, and most people (even most mentally ill people) are deemed competent. Should this be the same standard used by the court to determine when someone is competent to waive counsel and represent oneself at trial, like Colin Ferguson did? If so, why? If not, what should the standard to represent oneself be, and why?

3. How and why might providing treatment to restore competency to stand trial be ethically complicated for mental health professionals?

Rubric