Punishing those with mental problems

Think that the person would still be guilty of doing the crime, but would be sentenced to help, NOT in the normal prison/jail system!

 

Loughner is clearly mentally ill.

I don't think the courts are trying to punish him, but rather utilizing the laws as they stand now to protect the innocent.

Sentence him to prison for life, and then treat him so it can be as healthy a life as possible while keeping the rest of us safe.

Send him to a mental hospital and existing laws will probably have him released when the docs say he is sane (on his meds) and with his disease, upon release he will likely go off meds and hurt someone.

We need to change the system so the mentally ill can be compassionately treated, but HELD for the safety of the rest of us.

Until then, I applaud this compromise.

 

Don't we have guilty, but legally insane?

can the Joker get that verdict, and sit behind bars for life?

 

At least one here will contend that there is no such thing as mental illness.

I have a feeling the whole M.I. series is about to go into reruns.

 

No, there is no such thing under current laws as sending a person to a mental institution for life.

Under the law, once treated and considered sane, they get released.

Guilty but mentally insane sends one not to a mental hospital, but to prison.

HOWEVER, there are special units for the mentally insane in prison.

 

So IF not executed, the Joker will end up in one of those 'special units", right there with Charles manson?

 

Him and Charlie would be excluded form the general populance though, wont they?

 

did not know that! just assumed that even other prisoners would see those such as Joker and Charlie as being even to them dangerous and weird!

 

Wouldn't someone like the Joker though ahve 'groupies", who would want to become part of his gang, so to speak?

 

There most certainly are treatment units in prison systems.

Sometimes it is just a small section of a general prison, but there are mental and physical treatment units in the prison system where a whole unit (prison) is a treatment unit.

Had a dear friend from church, who had two sons in the prison system of Texas. One was in the general prison population in one town.

Other was diagnosed with a mental illness and transferred across state to a treatment unit.

Still had to serve out his sentence, but also got good treatment so that when released he could maintain life on the outside.

I also have a son that suffers from bipolar disorder and was incarcerated.

In fact, he committed a crime, turned himself in for it, was found guilty, and sentenced to prison where he was diagnosed. He too was separated from the general population in a treatment unit and got good treatment for his disease and stabilized on meds. He then got cancer and was sent to another unit, not general population, and treated for that.

Once stable on both counts he was sent to the general population to serve out his sentence.

freeatlast, the laws vary from state to state as to how long the mentally ill can be held. Don't know of a single one where they can be held "forever".

But convict them of the crime and they can be held in prison "forever".

Again, you spout much but clearly do not know beans about brain disease OR the laws surrounding it, so there is no point any further comments responding to you.

 

The issue is not what we might do, but what scripture tells us God in fact does! Even though people did not sin as Adam sinned, i.e. knowingly violate God's instruction, they still died, indicating God's punishment for going against what was God's will for their lives. So ignorance of the Law might lessen the punishment, i.e. knowledge of the Law magnifies the consequence of violating it, God's perfect justice requires folks to be punished for what they did and should have know was wrong. For example, when you treat others differently than you treat yourself, your hypocrisy earns the wrath of God, even though you never understood the command to do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

But what about those who are unable to understand even that, such as feeble-minded folks or children who do not know their right hand from their left. They would still be condemned for unbelief, but would not seem to qualify for torment for misdeeds.