The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has ruled against a decades-old state law that kept severely mentally ill people behind bars indefinitely. The court’s September ruling in Commonwealth versus Juan Humphrey has cleared the way for judges to dismiss charges against defendants who would never be deemed competent to stand trial. Supporters say the ruling corrects a 50-year-old state law that gives unclear instructions about what to do when someone has long-term intellectual disabilities, brain injuries, or cognitive disorders such as dementia.