Edmonton Journal: Simons: Monster or martyr? The dangerous dilemma of Serena Nicotine

By: Paula Simons, Edmonton Journal (June 3, 2013) (Accessed: June 12, 2013)

Article outlines the life of this young woman affected by FASD. She has spent over half of her life either incarcerated or held in psychiatric centres. She has a colourful and creative past of violence – inflicted both on her and by her. It’s come to the point now where the justice system doesn’t know how to respond to such an individual. “Our justice system stands on our belief in free will, wherein we punish people who freely choose to do wrong. Our mental health-care system is about treating people who are ill. Neither paradigm fits those who can’t be cured with counselling or medication, but whose free will is constrained by the way their brains were shaped and programmed.”