A man spent almost three years in a mental hospital in Hawaii before officials discovered they were holding the wrong man

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Originally published at: A man spent almost three years in a mental hospital in Hawaii before officials discovered they were holding the wrong man | Boing Boing

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And this is how The Joker was born.

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Well, hell, he got back his $0.50! They didn’t even charge him for 2+ years of room and board. Seems fair to me! (/s)

ACAB

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Well if he didn’t have problems with mental health before I would bet he does now. Jeez

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Sounds like a lawsuit in the making. How he could have gotten all the way through the intake system without a basic fingerprint check is only the first question.

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Yeah, but that’s if he sat on it, they should assume he would have put the $.50 in a moderate stock portfolio and pay him the difference.

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Perhaps as a scenario for some great work of fiction (which i’ll never write) i’ve occasionally wondered what would be the best way possible to convince the wardens of an insane asylum (or the more politically correct term) that you weren’t insane. What is a prevailing phenotype of sanity? ([baritone movie voice mode] “…given a world gone mad”)

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Not just ACAB. The whole justice system failed.

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I should damn well think they would refuse to comment. Anything they say can & will (I hope) be used against them.

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Since the authorities were so careful to return the 50 cents he had in his pocket when he was wrongfully arrested, perhaps $50 million would be appropriate compensation.

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Obligatory:

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Jesus what a nightmare.

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I’m thinking of Czech Mate:

You keep thinking that at some point the woman will figure out what’s going on and come up with a clever way of getting away, but no such luck, it’s a really dark ending.

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After officials were made to understand their mistake, they released Spriestersbach, returning the 50 cents he had in his pocket when he was arrested.

I have a feeling that’s not the end of the payouts from those big spenders.

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I wonder if you could argue your way out of a hospital even if you were at least somewhat experiencing mental issues by bringing up the Rosenhan experiment in moments of clarity.

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I have actually been in that situation. What you have to do is… everything they say. Go with the program and do all the things and don’t complain or make any fuss. Then when your family comes to collect you (which is a luxury most people in this situation don’t have) the doctors feel that you’ve been cooperative and “trying to heal” even if there was never anything wrong with you. Making sure they see what they want to see is the only way out. If you have nobody to come and collect you, you will probably never get out, which was precisely the problem with the post-war mental health system in most countries.

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FFS! All healing to you, Sister.

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It sure AF better not be!

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Is there a legal fund for this guy anywhere? If he was homeless in 2017, and spent the last 2 years under false imprisonment I doubt he has many resources to help him get the legal representation he needs for compensation of incalculable mishandling of his care by the State.

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There was a recent movie made about these kinds of institutional kidnappings. It’s called I Care A Lot, and it imagines a scam where wealthy seniors with no family are targeted, captured, drugged, and not allowed visitors. The system sucks up the patient’s assets in their entirety. Doctors and judges are in on it, too.

It eventually expands nationally, and only runs into a problem when they kidnap Dianne Wiest. It appears she has no family, but in fact, she’s secretly mob-connected. Watch the fireworks ensue!

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