I often wonder if theses people are really ill, I guess we will have to wait until the next life to know.
JUDGE OKS TRIPS FOR HINCKLEY
The man who shot Ronald Reagan may visit his parents without staff from the
mental hospital where he has lived for more than two decades, a judge ruled
Wednesday over the objections of the former president's family and federal
officials.
https://deseretnews.com/dn/view/1%2C1249%2C...37713%2C00.html
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I'm not trying to defend the guy but isn't the guy mentally ill? therefore he could not be consider as a normal prisoner, I know he tried to kill Pres. Reagan but at the same time the guy is crazy
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Yes, many don't like the fact that if you are found criminally insane, which isn't the same as insane, you could some day be cured an set free. Well, unfortunately, it seems only fair to me that if you didn't understand that what you were doing was wrong, which is the offcial definition for criminal insanity, that you shouldn't be held accountable.
Hinckly has been locked up for over 20 years receiving treatment. Many murders gain parole by that time, so if he is really not a danger any more, he should be set free. If he has been cured, then why should he still be held for something he did, that a court has determined he couldn't help and didn't realize was wrong as long as he now has that ability going forward?
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I guess the point will be... can that really be determined? That is if someone is really insane or 'playing' the part instead. I am sure pleading insanity in murder trials is such a common thing that people actually 'expect' you to go that route.
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Actually, it is very difficult to be found not guilty by reason of insanity. You must prove, not that you are mentally insane or instable, but that you are "criminally insane which generally means that you did not realize what you did was wrong. A big case recently was in Texas where a mother drowned her 5 kids in a bath tub. There is no doubt she suffers from mental illness. It is well documented, however she was found guilty because she couldn't prove she didn't know the law would view what she did as wrong.
I think the insanity defense was abused a lot many years ago, but laws have been changed and it is now very difficult to successfully use it.
Another case I think of is Jeffrey Dahmer. He killed young boys/men and ate them. No way you can tell me he wasn't insane, but yet he was not found criminally insane, but rather guilty.
We don't like it when someone commits a crime and then is not held criminally accountable, but in fact, if a person truly is insane and doesn't know what they are doing is wrong, should they be dealt with in the same manner as someone who knew what they did was wrong?
As far as the ability to be cured, I don't know. I guess to some extent we need to trust the professionals, but that is very difficult to do since they don't usually all agree.
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QUOTE |
As far as the ability to be cured, I don't know. I guess to some extent we need to trust the professionals, but that is very difficult to do since they don't usually all agree. |
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Quote from cnn.com
QUOTE |
Hinckley denied longer parental visits Judge grants man who shot Reagan more overnight stays WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A federal judge Wednesday denied a request by John Hinckley, the man who shot President Reagan in a 1981 assassination attempt, to have extended visits at his parents' Virginia home. After a week of highly contested debate over Hinckley's mental condition, U.S. District Court Judge Paul Friedman rejected proposals for Hinckley to leave St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington for stays of up to four nights solely under the supervision of his parents at their home in southeast Virginia |
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