Should A Killer Be Put To Death If He's Mentally Ill?

minimus

If a person murdered someone while mentally ill, should he be executed?

james_woods

There are many people who are walking around somewhat functionally and then commit a terrible crime. Then, suddenly, they claim mental illness. I think we have to draw a careful line on this -

We had two famous cases here in Texas - first; Darlie Routier...she murdered her two small sons - apparantly just to be rid of them, but some say for the insurance money. She tried to cover up the crime by making it look like an intruder did it, and even cut herself superficially to make it look like she was attacked. Crazy, or not so crazy? I say selfish, greedy, but probably not so crazy.

Then there was the weird fundy woman in Houston who drowned all her kids - probably because she couldn't stand her fundamentalist weirdo of a husband and what he had done to her life. She was pronounced insane, and I don't think many people will argue the point.

And now, a drama is playing itself out in Florida with the young mother who sort of "lost" her 3-yr old for a month, did not call the cops, and spent the time partying like a wannabe Paris Hilton. If a body is ever found, I doubt that an insanity plea will not be far behind.

Satanus

Why should insane people get special treatment?

S

UnConfused

Only if it was me that they killed

stillajwexelder

no -if he truly is mentally ill and not feigning it

sweetstuff

Depends on what you deem to be so mentally ill as to exempt them from responsibility. Scott Peterson could say he was "mentally ill", sorry, not buying it. Take a life knowingly, lose your right to yours. Period.

As for the woman in Texas who murdered all her children, seriously, at some point, when those children were fighting for their lives, at least the older ones, she had to be aware of what she was doing. Insane or not, that crime deserves death, IMO.

undercover

Depends on what you mean by mentally ill...

Near where I live a guy stood out in the road and shot at people as they drove by...killed seven people before he was shot by a sheriff's deputy. He lived, went to trial, pleaded not guilty be reason of insanity, was found such and was sent to the state mental hospital where he's been for over 20 years now and it's quite likely he'll never leave.

Was he insane? The flip answer is anybody who would stand in the road and shoot at passersby has to be nuts...but at the same time, even if someone is mentally off, can they or do they know that killing another person is wrong?

The question I have is if someone is going to be locked up for the rest of their life...becoming a burden on society, as for clothing, food, shelter, health care, then what point is it to keep them alive? They serve no useful purpose in society.

Why is it that when we have a sick pet and he's suffereing we're being humane by putting him down, but to allow a sick, dying person to be euthanized is murder and keeping a person who is a burden on society and can't be released to live among us alive is merciful?

yknot

Toughy.....

what is next...

a person who is intoxicated or high (the brain is in an altered state during this period & not rational)

crime of passion

again toughy...

Nathan Natas

No, certainly not.

Society benefits from an abundance of homicidal imbeciles.

The more the merrier.

The masses are but sheep, and the wolves must feed.

james_woods

I once heard this argument --- that it is immaterial to a murder case whether you were insane or not.

The logic went like this: You really cannot kill another person voluntarily without use of some mental coordination. Many sadly insane people (mania, depression, schizoid, etc.) are this way for a lifetime, but never kill anyone. Thus it is clear that insanity is not an automatic trigger to make a person kill. There must be a willingness to kill in addition to the mental condition.

Further, that if you did suffer from a mental defect, and did in fact kill, that even if the mental defect did bring about the crime - the perpetrator should still not evade justice. After all, if the perpetrator suffered from some other disease - and it were a fatal disease, then unfortunately, he would die from the disease. A mental illness that actually caused a murder could in that case be looked at like any other unfortunate, but fatal, disease.

And the result is the same - if you kill, you must pay the penalty. Viewed this way, the insanity is nonsequiter to the fact of the crime and the ultimate demand of the people for justice.

Of course, I suspect that very few mental health professionals would agree with any of this, and would probably want to rehabilitate such criminals.

Should A Killer Be Put To Death If He's Mentally Ill?

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