Yates not guilty

Okay, but that's a little different than "White lady gets expensive lawyers, plays the Jesus card, gets off." That makes it sound more like "but you can't sentence me to jail, I *heart* Jesus!" The defense was diminished capacity as a result of post-partum depression, not "she's saved so clearly this was an abberation and you should give her a break because of it." That's not to say there aren't people out there who think this way, but proof of insanity isn't quite "playing the Jesus card", and if it is, I think He wants it back.

Maybe if it goes to their character (i.e. Joe Blow is a committed Christian who spends his free time helping orphaned kittens cross the street, so stuffing 20 people in a massive food processor and hitting puree is atypical behavior for him). But then you can easily make that case with people of other religion or without bringing in religion at all. Of course, juries do stupid things all the time, and I wouldn't put it past one to give someone a free pass on murder because of their faith. But then I'm sure it's happened because of race or nationality or other dumb ass reasons too. But saying "Christians (are) allowed to kill their children in this country and avoid punishment" is a slight overstatement. And by slight, I mean Oliver Miller-sized.

 

The woman was ill. Seriously ill. Do you think that "not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect" should be abolished as a verdict?

 

I understand that "not guilty" is not a synonym for "innocent" in the eyes of the law. That said, how many sane mass murderers are there? She chased her oldest son down after he saw what she was doing and drowned him too, and it wasn't a quick and painless death they suffered. And one of the psychiatrists involved in the prosecution case said she'd probably be out soon. If that's the case, there's no way justice was served for those kids' deaths. I don't deny that the woman wasn't right in the head and needs help, but she doesn't ever need to see freedom either.

 

There are a lot of sane mass murderers.  They are true psychopaths with no empathy for anyone.  They get off on the pain and suffering of others and society needs to be protected from them.  There is no cure, at this point, for psychopathy.

Andrea Yates was sick.  She heard voices and did what she did because she honestly believed that she was saving her children.  She didn't do it out of hate or sadistic impulses, she did it out of love.  As weird as that sounds, this is what her psychosis led her to.  As her illness is treated and the psychotic state lifts no one will ever punish her more than she herself. 

 

I don't give a shit about semantics... or psychiatry.

A person's actions are the only concrete facts someone can be judged on.

Saying that she should be treated differently because she won't do it again is like letting me stay in school if I'm caught cheating on an exam, yet I convince you I won't do it again.

 

The incredible level of ignorance about mental illness and psycosis shown on this thread scares the fucking shit out of me. No one in our profession should be this uninformed about an illness that affects so many people.

 

Thank you for saying that. The lack of understanding here is staggering.

 

Except we're not debating mental illness on its own merits, we're debating whether Andrea Yates' mental state should have bearing on whether she goes to jail or a mental hospital. I am of the belief that the systematic murder of five children should earn you life imprisonment, be it in a prison or a mental hospital. If she goes free next year, it's a miscarriage of justice </gorilla monsoon>

 

I agree 100 percent. Those kids will never see the light of day again. She made quite sure of that.

 

But if the crime was committed because she was ill, she isn't responsible for her actions.  You can't punish someone who didn't have the mens rea to commit the crime. She should definitely have psychiatric treatment and has been getting that for the past 5 years, both medication and therapy.  I agree that it was tragic and horrific.  But if her illness can be treated why would he keep her locked up?

 

You are always responsible for your actions.

Except in this country's fucked up legal system.

If you are defective, that's a tragedy. But if you have shown the capability to kill someone by doing it, it's time for you to go home.

 

The apologism and disregard for innocent snuffed-out life is staggering.