Yahoo! News: Jury finds Yates not guilty in drownings
I find this simply incredulous; not guilty?
I find this simply incredulous; not guilty?
[NEWS] Jury finds Yates not guilty
- Thread starter Mr. S£im Citrus
- Start date
Not guilty by reason of insanity. She will be held until she is no longer insane (which could be never).
We live in a society where we have decided that although doing the crime, we find certain people to not have the requisite mental state needed to be punished for the crime. This exists for situations where it would be unjust to punish someone for commiting a crime. Should she probably go to jail for ever? I think so, but thats just me. However, we don't have a l"ets just do whatever we think is just" legal system. That kind of legal system gets a bit scary sometimes, hence the "insanity" defense. For the record, her thinking that "Satan was inside her and that killing the youngsters would save them from hell" seems pretty damn insane to me.
It sucks, but the "insanity" defense exists for a reason. William Blackstone said "Better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer."
We live in a society where we have decided that although doing the crime, we find certain people to not have the requisite mental state needed to be punished for the crime. This exists for situations where it would be unjust to punish someone for commiting a crime. Should she probably go to jail for ever? I think so, but thats just me. However, we don't have a l"ets just do whatever we think is just" legal system. That kind of legal system gets a bit scary sometimes, hence the "insanity" defense. For the record, her thinking that "Satan was inside her and that killing the youngsters would save them from hell" seems pretty damn insane to me.
It sucks, but the "insanity" defense exists for a reason. William Blackstone said "Better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer."
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Indeed, just a different kind of prison.
Main difference is a different standard of "parole" -- i.e. sanity. In a case like this though, where the toxic mix appears to have been severe depression combined with religious zealotry rather than something like schitzophrenia, not sure how you will ever be able to say that she is "cured".
Main difference is a different standard of "parole" -- i.e. sanity. In a case like this though, where the toxic mix appears to have been severe depression combined with religious zealotry rather than something like schitzophrenia, not sure how you will ever be able to say that she is "cured".
That's EXACTLY my feeling. I listened to several of the jurors this morning and they all seem like completely reasonable people who processed the evidence thoroughly and followed the letter of the law. We can't assume that all insanity pleas are bogus...having a mentally ill person sit in jail does none of us any good.
I do agree, though, that hearing NOT GUILTY by reason of insanity implies innocence...we all know she did it. A change in the language would be appropriate, IMHO.
I do agree, though, that hearing NOT GUILTY by reason of insanity implies innocence...we all know she did it. A change in the language would be appropriate, IMHO.
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