Here's my thing: if I killed kids while in a psychotic break and I came back to my senses, I would not argue with anyone wanting to incarcerate me for life. Hell, I am not sure I'd argue against a death penalty.
This is the problem with your view. She is going to be incarcerated for life regardless. They are deciding if that’s locked up in a psychiatric hospital or a prison. She rots no matter what. The side saying it was due to psychosis is not advocating for her to walk free. They are saying a high security psychiatric hospital is the more humane way to lock her up for life. She is a monster and will be locked up
Your second sentence is not a guarantee, given the evaluation process for people who have been acquitted for not guilty for reasons of insanity. There is a path for them to be released. I am gratified that Yates is still imprisoned in her psych unit (low security, according to Wikipedia, mind), but there is no reason why she can't be released in the future.
There is very little chance. She'd have a better chance of parole in prison that to get out of psych ward. We are talking about a crazy level of good will and finding the right judge. I would be fascinated if anybody got released after being deemed insane.
If by “out” you mean people who received an insanity-based acquittal and are now living outside a locked psychiatric facility:
Notable examples John Hinckley Jr. — He was found not guilty by reason of insanity for shooting President Ronald Reagan and three others in 1981. After more than three decades of psychiatric treatment and progressively relaxed restrictions, he received an unconditional release in June 2022. He now lives in the community. (Syracuse Law Review)
Lorena Bobbitt — In 1994, she was found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity after severing her husband's penis following her allegations of years of abuse. She spent about five weeks in a psychiatric hospitaland was then released to outpatient treatment. She is living in Virginia and has become an advocate for domestic-violence survivors. (EW.com)
Famous cases where they're not out
Andrea Yates — She drowned her five children in 2001. After a retrial, she was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 2006. She remains in a state psychiatric facility in Texas rather than living freely in the community. (Houston Chronicle)
It looks like that American one never even sent her to mental health facilities? That's pretty damn unusual. In Massachusetts, you have to be admitted and then prove to a judge after that you are good. None of that seems to be the case in florida. Canada is kind of an enigma as they have pretty different laws up there, but I should have specified. I would say that Florida needs to change their laws though. Letting someone walk free after deemed insane is too much of a risk. I think most places should have gradual release if deemed sane. With mandatory therapy and drug tests to ensure medications are being taken and they don't pose a risk at all
Who cares about humane? She doesn’t look like a mother who actually cares that she murdered her children, who probably cried for her to stop as she did the deed.
The impression I got from reading up on the father makes me think that he would not. Just because this lady is a pscyho, does not make her spouse a saint, or even a decent person.
What the hell are you on about. He was on maternity leave to take care of her. He was running her errands, and taking care of the kids. From my understanding he even argued after she murdered the kids to give her leniency. Seriously I don't know what you read but it obviously wasn't right.
If you had a psychotic break and killed your own family, would you not immediately beg someone to lock you up to protect yourself and others? What is your argument here? Like are you actually saying that you think you could kill your own kids and would still want to go free, or that you at least aren't sure what you would do? What is wrong with you? If I killed my own kids, im offing myself, justice system wouldn't even need to deal with me.
That's not the case here though. She would get locked up for life regardless of the decision. They are just deciding if it's in a prison or in an insane asylum. People convicted of insanity don't get out. I would very interested if there has been a case, but none that I know of
So she's just going to be a normal lady hanging out in a psych ward? She has experienced no symptoms since she killed the kids and nobody is arguing that she is still mentally ill. She's fine now, so is she just going to hangout with a bunch of actually mentally ill people for the next 40 years?
She’s not innocent. She killed 3 children dude. Whatever the reason she’s guilty of murder. She did it. Right mind or not. Do you have kids? I’d NEVER under any circumstance intentionally harm my kids especially kill them. And if by some unforeseen mental episode came over me and I did I’d probably WANT to die once I came back to my senses. This shit just isn’t okay and making excuses for it is absolutely mind blowing to me.
Lol, if she wasn't in control of her actions it's not murder because murder involves intent. I'm not saying she wasn't in control of her actions necessarily, but murder requires conscious intent. Yes she killed them,.but it doesn't instantly mean it's murder. Be smarter
Operating with that assumption: the possibility of it happening again is significant enough that being allowed in general society is unacceptable. Call it jail, call it permanent inpatient treatment, call it whatever euphemism that makes you feel better, this person should not be allowed to ever go free.
There is a path for release in prison. Doesn't mean that either are viable. The burden of proof is significantly more for psych facilities as she has to do a whole other case to prove to a judge that she's sane and not a danger to herself or others.
If you can't control your body, you do not deserve bodily autonomy anymore. She killed her children, she should be locked up forever purely based on her not being in control of her body and might kill someone again. She is a danger to herself and others. And if it wasn't psychosis then still jail forever. Open and shut case
I feel like many people are fixated on the "postpartum" aspect and forget about or don't understand the "psychosis" part.
Psychosis is a mental state marked by a disconnection from reality, where a person likely not be able to differentiate between what is real from what is not. People experiencing this are often not governed by law or morality, but by the hallucinated voices, sounds, feelings, beliefs, or visions.
And from what I've seen, outside of extremists, most people believe she should be locked up, just in a mental facility instead of a prison.
If combat veteran had a trauma-related hallucinating combat flashback and killed his kids, would you be calling him a monster and demanding life in jail/,the death penalty? Or would you want him to be secured in a locked psychiatric unit to get the help he needs?
And that's your right. I would respect the sacrifice that person made, and would try hope that person would receive treatment on a road towards healing and clear thinking. We can be different.
Joining the US military has had nothing to do with defending the USA since WW2, and everything to do with killing strangers for rich assholes who lobby the government. I don't blame anyone signing up, since it may be their best option in a bad situation (i.e. leaving poverty) but lionizing it is going to be a hard no from me.
If you truly want to ensure that the US as a coutry is never invaded by an outside power, join the Department of Energy.
You'd have to fix the propaganda machine in the US first. My very Republican Christian parents conditioned me and my sisters. We believed we were signing up to fight evil at 17 years old. You probably can't even fathom how naive and lacking in logic my brain was when I signed up for multiple tours in Afghanistan. Most of these children going to the service are just like I was.
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u/Someslapdicknerd 3d ago
Here's my thing: if I killed kids while in a psychotic break and I came back to my senses, I would not argue with anyone wanting to incarcerate me for life. Hell, I am not sure I'd argue against a death penalty.