I do not, for one second, dispute the claim that Andrea Yates is insane. Anyone who would willingly murder her own children would have a difficult time convincing me they are of sound mind. That's not what bothers me about this case.
What bothers me is this whole '..by reason of insanity' mess. I never understood giving somone a free pass for murder based on mental illness (and please don't give me any two-bit freshman year psych lectures about conscious awareness). Personally, if someone is insane enough to murder another human being, that person belongs in prison or in the electric chair. Under NO circumstances should they be allowed back into society.
Yet, there is a good chance that Andrea Yates will be back in society one day.
The sad thing is that our justice system failed these poor children. As is often the case, the story became about the lunatic mother and NOT the victims. These kids were murdered, and our government failed to deliver justice to their killer. It failed to protect other children in similar situations. Once again, our government has failed the next generation.
Tonight I will pray for those poor kids, and for the many others who may one day suffer the same fate under a legal system designed to protect the offenders moreso than the victims.
4 comments:
If a person is driving a car and has a heart attack, leading to a wreck in which people are killed, is that person guilty of murder?
Andrea Gates was apparently in a life wreck and it is an awful thing. I hope she is some place safe for a long time. I don't know the details in this case, but I trust the system enough to let the judge and jury make the call. It's how things work.
I don't know that we want to start charging people for murder for those things that happen as a result of illness. As sad and awful as it is. We will definitely want to place reasonable limitations on people with illnesses and medical conditions (we don't let the blind drive, for instance) and hold them accountable, but the jury in this case apparently decided murder wasn't the right charge. Probably correctly so.
The heart attack patient...murder? Perhaps. It truly depends on the situation.
In regards to Yates, she intentionally killed 5 people. Saying 'the devil made me do it' is not enough to let her off lightly. If you want to commit her to a mental institution...fine. But I think that should have a stipulation that she will be committed for life and never be allowed back into society. If someone is THAT ill, they should not be given the oppurtunity for a violent relapse that affects more innocent people.
Oh she is guilty all right, no question in my mind. She had to chase down each of those kids and forcibly get them into the house, into the bathroom, into the tub.
Also her husband is guilty and I feel should be in prison right along with her. He knew she was depressed, had post-partum depression, yet he still pumped in the sperm and made her get pregnant again (yes he did, he wanted to have as many children as possible, that is his belief). So he should be held accountable.
He is married again and starting another family. Moron
I know how you feel John. I've recently been blogging about the courts imbalance in punishment. Murderers and rapists are victimized and given minimal punishment while simple white collar criminals get huge sentences. It's just appaling.
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