Mitch Modeleski aka Paul Andrew Mitchell

[fortinbras]

It is entirely possible that PAM has been incompetent, to a legally noticeable degree, for some considerable time. Certainly people at this website would not vouch for his sanity at any point in the last several years.

Frankly, a finding of incompetency is no Get Out of Jail Free card. Incompetency means he will be sent off to a psych lock-up where he will have fewer civil rights than if he were in a regular prison. Considering he was considered too sick to stand trial, they (the psych hospital) will pump him up with whatever crap is in vogue and at some point they'll probably call him competent just to free up the bed. At that point, supposedly nearly normal (although perhaps continuously drugged up), he will have to stand trial, which is plenty stressful even for mentally sound people. Although his psych incarceration and treatment suggests a retrospective insanity plea - "he was nuts then but he's normal now, so let him go free" - that very seldom happens. A successful insanity plea means back to psych lock-up, perhaps for longer than if he were simply convicted as a sane person.

[Judge Roy Bean]

In addition to pharmacological treatment, Mitch is probably going to find himself in group therapy among other people who have cognitive dysfunction disorders and little or no understanding of the legal system.

I suspect his ego will turn any such therapy session into a circus.

[Lambkin]

It is entirely possible that PAM has been incompetent, to a legally noticeable degree, for some considerable time. Certainly people at this website would not vouch for his sanity at any point in the last several years.

I assure you he was just as whacked out when he began emailing me in 1998. His M.O. really has not changed much at all. If you search his web site you can find plenty of old examples of his gibberish which look almost exactly like his current filings, except for being type-written. I don't know when he went off the rails, or if he was always bonkers, but it didn't happen recently.

[AndyK]

PAM has, for many years, resided in a world of his own constructio complete with its own set of laws, interpretations, and procedures,

His reality does, however, overlap ours since he has pursued many court actions (another 0 for all record) and he uses some of our concepts such as Private Attorney General and Federal Witness.

In any case, he is so deeply established on his own planet that (1) he probably can not correctly understand the charges which he's facing and (2) he is not capable of conducting or assisting in his own defense -- in fact, his conduct would be severely detrimental to his defense.

Although we probably all agree that PAM's sanity, in a clinical psychiatric sense, is questionable and warrants some form of treatment; does this make him legally insane?

1 - Did he know the difference between right and wrong as that related to the actions for which he has been charged? The analysis of that question probably contains enough meat for a PhD or Master's dissertation. But it all boils down to 'from what perspective was right and wrong being defined and evaluated at the time of the actions?' Clearly, from our perspective, PAM appears to have violated some of our laws. But, from his standpoint, he didn't since our laws didn't apply to him. Thus, he did nothing wrong.

2 - Is he a danger to himself or others? Probably not. He's never been a violent person except as it concerns the extent of his litigation.

3 - Can he be "cured" to the extent that he can function normally in our world? Probably not.

So, where does he belong? Assuming he did commit the illegal acts for which he is charged, AND if he were triable, he would spend some time in prison.

Is that the answer? I think not. PAM despite all of his behavior and antics to date is a human being. He belongs in a safe place where he will be insulated from our world and can dwell gently in his. He shouldn't be in a psycho ward of a prison or a hospital because it wouldn't accomplish anything. He needs a highly secure rest home where he can grow roses, write briefs, or whatever without having to chafe against the real world.

Plus, in the long run, that would be vastly less expensive than prison or ineffectual mental treatment.

[notorial dissent]

JRB, while a somewhat sadistic part of me finds the idea of PAM in a group therapy session amusing, it wouldn't be for any of the other participants, and it really would be cruel to him since he would feel they were abusing him, which in essence they would be. Group therapy and psychotics do not go well together, and would do him no good whatsoever.

Andy, I have to agree pretty much with what you've said.

His reality does intersect with ours, but the rules and functions are of his own making and has very little to do with reality. He is what I would call a highly functioning psychotic. He can function, after a fashion, but he tends to go completely off the rails.

I would say he has a sense of right and wrong, it just doesn't have any relation to what we think it is.

I don't believe he is a physical danger to anyone, except possibly himself in that his judgement is severely impaired. As I say, he is high functioning.

Can he be cured? I wouldn’t bet the farm, mortgage payment, or my next lunch break on it.

I quite agree, that if he was actually competent and sane, that he should be tried and sent to prison for what he was doing, but he wasn’t and isn’t and never will be. He lives in a fantasy world where what he is doing is real and correct, and we’re all the ones breaking the law.

I also quite agree with you, he needs to be in a secure rest home where he can continue his battles against injustice and write his briefs and whatever else and be watched and more importantly protected from the real crazies out there who will eventually do him some serious and real harm, and I’m quite honestly amazed that it hasn’t happened before now except that he has been living like a hermit recluse for the last several years from what I understand. He is quickly reaching the age where he will be predator bait and he is neither mentally nor emotionally equipped to deal with it, and I rather suspect that his health is also beginning to deteriorate as well.

[Lambkin]

Harmless, perhaps, but an armed psychotic is something to think about. You may enjoy this trip down memory lane: the time PAM tried to buy a handgun from an apparently legit firearms dealer. I guess it didn't work, but anybody who really wants to buy a gun without ID (in the US) is eventually going to succeed in the private market.

http://www.supremelaw.org/letters/jjschast.htm

Also, filing numerous frivolous lawsuits against ordinary citizens is not harmless, in my opinion. I prefer to see him where he is now, rather than on the loose. If he's committed to a state mental institution that would be just fine with me.

EDIT: replaced URL with a better one

[Judge Roy Bean]

JRB, while a somewhat sadistic part of me finds the idea of PAM in a group therapy session amusing, it wouldn't be for any of the other participants, and it really would be cruel to him since he would feel they were abusing him, which in essence they would be. Group therapy and psychotics do not go well together, and would do him no good whatsoever.

The fact is, in the setting he will find himself in, he has little or no choice in almost all facets of his life and daily activities. Failure to cooperate only further restricts his options and believe me, these facilities are not designed and operated for the comfort and convenience of their, ah, "guests."

[AndyK]

The Graduate

It's a shame there aren't any more facilities (at least available to the insolvent) such as hosted Mrs Robinson.

Even though PAM has been, and still is, a total low-life, he doesn't deserve incarceration -- except posibly in one of the country club prisons..

1 - He may have annoyed hundreds of people, but he never really hurt anyone except in the sense that they had to answer his inane legal actions.

2 - No matter what treatment or medication he receives, he's never going to get 'better'

[notorial dissent]

The fact is, in the setting he will find himself in, he has little or no choice in almost all facets of his life and daily activities. Failure to cooperate only further restricts his options and believe me, these facilities are not designed and operated for the comfort and convenience of their, ah, "guests."

What you say is entirely true, doesn't make it any more pointless or useless, and I don't see PAM playing along unless he decides to see how much grief he can cause. Group therapy would not accomplish a thing with him, except to possibly make him more hostile and uncooperative. In point of fact, there isn't any kind of therapy that is going to help him except possibly drug therapy, and that is problematical at the very best of times.

[Gregg]

He'll likely spend the rest of his life in a Thorazine inspired stupor, more for the sake of the staff at whatever facility he ends up in than for his own good. These are institutions, the kind that led to the phrase "institutional stupidity". Much as I hate to say it we have places that are little more than warehouses for people who just don't work in society.

[notorial dissent]

Regrettably Gregg's comment is largely true, and equally so a variation of that is in PAM's possible future.

Thorazine is so old school, so "Over the Cuckoos Nest", and so labor intensive. The new anti-psychotics achieve much the same result without all the bad ones. I was only kidding with the house plant comment, sort of, now they're the more ambulatory, self watering self feeding variety. Still really not a very pretty picture.

[Gregg]

I was just using a bit of license because I assumed more would recognize Thorazine over Seraquel etc...

[LightinDarkness]

What fascinates me most about PAM is how much of a celebrity he is in the really deep sov'run crazy part of the internet. I put tax deniers and sovereigns into sort of a spectrum of stupidity - with people like the "wages aren't income!" in the 1-2 range and the hardcore sovereigns/prosperity believers like the OPPT idiots in the 9-10 range.

PAM was/is HUGE on the 9-10 sovereign/prosperity believer range. I would even say he is idolized by a lot of people at that level of stupidity. The crazier he became, the more he was held up as a bastion of intelligence by the most insane types of sovereigns. I am not sure what this says about the worst of the sovereigns and prosperity believers, but it isn't good things.

If the internet echo chamber didn't exist for these people, I wonder if he would have had his eventual break. I really think it had a role.

[Judge Roy Bean]

The fact is, in the setting he will find himself in, he has little or no choice in almost all facets of his life and daily activities. Failure to cooperate only further restricts his options and believe me, these facilities are not designed and operated for the comfort and convenience of their, ah, "guests."

What you say is entirely true, doesn't make it any more pointless or useless, and I don't see PAM playing along unless he decides to see how much grief he can cause. Group therapy would not accomplish a thing with him, except to possibly make him more hostile and uncooperative. In point of fact, there isn't any kind of therapy that is going to help him except possibly drug therapy, and that is problematical at the very best of times.

Actually, I have to disagree that it would be pointless or useless. He has been clinically evaluated and at least one professional believes his mental state can be altered and convinced a judge to that end.

We've been around and read about these people for so long that we've developed any number of generalizations about them. When a trained practitioner looks at them from a completely new and professional perspective they have no historical baggage (hilarious or otherwise) to shape their view. They have a patient, they diagnose, they have procedures and treatments and they'll try them. If he's stupid enough to become hostile, things will only get worse. It's a punishment/reward environment, not a hospital.

[wserra]

Judge Freudenthal has entered a written order following the competency hearing. It makes interesting reading for anyone who has followed Modeleski's illustrious, um, career.

As we discussed above, of course, she finds him incompetent. She finds that Mitch's "grandiose sense of his own self-importance", his "belief that the people he deals with are idiots", and his "arrogant and haughty attitude", are all as a result of his "Delusional Disorder, both Grandiose and Persecutory types ... combined with narcissistic traits".

Or he could just be an asshole.

[Dr. Caligari]

all as a result of his "Delusional Disorder, both Grandiose and Persecutory types ... combined with narcissistic traits".

Or he could just be an asshole.

Couldn't it be both?

[Jeffrey]

all as a result of his "Delusional Disorder, both Grandiose and Persecutory types ... combined with narcissistic traits".

Or he could just be an asshole.

Couldn't it be both?

[notorial dissent]

So they hvae finally come down to the realization that PAM has created a world in which all the gov't officials lack proper credentials, his continual demand for their appointment certs, and then, the new to me, idea that even if they do present credentials they are counterfeit. Solves the issue of anyone having the authority to do anything with him. I personally think that "Delusional Disorder" is just the tip of the iceberg. Personally, I think the idea that they are going to "restore him to competency" is delusional.

I find some of the sidelights about his beliefs interesting, but don't think they even came close to delving in to where his delusions or beliefs come from, which they really need to know to even come close to understanding his current mental state, which is another reason they are wasting their time.

[Lambkin]

I personally think that "Delusional Disorder" is just the tip of the iceberg. Personally, I think the idea that they are going to "restore him to competency" is delusional.

We shall see! I am not aware of him having been committed and forcibly treated before, so I couldn't guess how he might respond.

I find some of the sidelights about his beliefs interesting, but don't think they even came close to delving in to where his delusions or beliefs come from, which they really need to know to even come close to understanding his current mental state, which is another reason they are wasting their time.

I disagree, I think that by identifying his delusions around the legitimacy of judicial appointments, they know enough to say he is incompetent, and I think if they turn him around on that issue, it would be a good sign of his return to Earth (or perhaps his first time visiting reality).

[notorial dissent]

We shall see! I am not aware of him having been committed and forcibly treated before, so I couldn't guess how he might respond.

True, as far as I know, and believe, he has never been in this kind of situation before. He has been a civil, if uncivil, pest, as opposed to a criminal indictee in the past, and I don’t know or believe that he has ever registered on the authority’s radar for anything that would have put him in this situation.

Actually, we now know exactly and precisely how he will respond courtesy of the good doctor’s report and observations on PAM and his behavior. He lives it a delusiary state of paranoia and fighting the corrupt and counterfeit gov’t agencies, i.e. the courts and all their personnel. He DID NOT participate in the review conducted by the doctor to any useful degree and was difficult to assess, he does not believe or accept or is open to consdieration that he has ANY kind or shape of mental problems, and gets quite upset and agitated when this is even broached, which translates to total resistance on the part of the patient when it comes to treatment. So in terms of treatment, group therapy is right out the window unless they want him as a very damaging and disrupting influence on the other participants, and since he is convinced that there is nothing wrong with him, no amount of one on one is going to accomplish anything either. The significant thing the doctor got right is that he is living in a delusiary state that he has no reason or want to come out of.

I disagree, I think that by identifying his delusions around the legitimacy of judicial appointments, they know enough to say he is incompetent, and I think if they turn him around on that issue, it would be a good sign of his return to Earth (or perhaps his first time visiting reality).

I have to disagree with you entirely here. Agreed that PART of his delusion is “around the legitimacy of judicial appointments”, which granted makes him totally incompetent to deal with either the court, or his defense, or any attorney that is provided to him, or life in general for that matter, because at the very least he does not believe they are real or have any authority or validity. Yes, it would be a very good sign “if they turn him around on that issue”, but IT ISN’T GOING TO HAPPEN. PAM’s feet have not truly touched earth in a very long time, and they aren’t suddenly going to start because he talked to a shrink or sat sulking through group. His world is solid and stable by his lights, and there is nothing that anyone can say or do that is going to make him question or change that, and therefore, he is going to remain incompetent within the meaning of the court’s determination. My point is this is just a symptom of a much larger issue, and if the larger issue isn’t recognized and dealt with none of this is going to go away, not that I believe it will in any event. Let me give you an example. You have a nasty red rash on your arm and aren’t feeling well. You go to the doctor and he gives you a magic cream that makes the rash go away. You die two weeks later from the actual problem, which is why you were feeling sick in the first place, of which the rash was just one of the final symptoms of the problem. This is the case with PAM, the delusion about the courts is just a symptom of something much bigger that they have no idea about, and just trying to treat the symptom, is not going to treat the real problem.