There's a pattern developing across this country that, frankly, is terrifying. The far left doesn’t care if dangerous criminals walk the streets, and in courtrooms nationwide, violent criminals of all kinds are being spared prison sentences. The days of ensuring that the punishment fits the crime are over. Instead, the days of the Get Out of Jail Free card are here, and we’re all going to pay the price thanks to insanity pleas, short-term treatment plans, and a pinky promise to behave better in the future.
The most high-profile example is the brutal killing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutaska in North Carolina. Her killer, DeCarlos Brown Jr., had been arrested more than a dozen times before. Yet, last month, a court ruled that the repeat offender was “incapable of proceeding” in the murder trial.
And then there’s the case of Sana Ceesay, a 29-year-old migrant with 28 prior arrests. Ceesay fatally stabbed Fontaine Jackson multiple times back in 2023. In a move that defies common sense, prosecutors and defense attorneys jointly asked a judge to accept Ceesay’s insanity plea, acquit him of first-degree murder, and commit him to the custody of the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services for treatment.
Why? Can anyone figure this out? He had 28 prior arrests, killed a man, and even the defense helped arrange his exit from accountability? Under the terms of the deal, Ceesay has to receive treatment at home and can be released once a court finds he's better.
This is the loophole the radical left has built into the criminal justice system. The insanity defense has become a way to shield violent criminals from prison, particularly migrants and repeat offenders who clearly needed mental health treatment before they started killing people.
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Criminals have learned that the insanity defense is the ultimate get-out-of-jail-free card, and the system is handing them out like they're coupons. This is the criminal justice system the left has created. They’ve traded prosecution and incarceration for mental health labels and promises of eventual release.
President Trump saw this problem. Last year, he signed an Executive Order to bring back mental institutions and mental asylums to get dangerous people off the streets. It was mocked, dismissed, and treated as an overreach by the same crowd that keeps releasing the worst of the worst back into neighborhoods. There are countless cases of criminals who have been let back on the streets in the name of criminal justice reform, collectively making the case that Trump's executive order was not just necessary but overdue.
Now, we need something done. I don’t doubt that much of the crime we have is caused by people with mental health issues, and they need to be treated before they start killing people. Trump made this a key promise of his presidential campaign.
"When I am back in the White House, we will use every tool, lever, and authority to get the homeless off our streets," Trump said. "And for those who are severely mentally ill and deeply disturbed, we will bring them back to mental institutions, where they belong.”
