I think that the Insanity Defence is abused. Don't you think it's very convienient a criminal cant tell right from wrong within the past 24 hours. "Your honor my client here did not know chopping off someones head is naughty." Bullshit Bullshit Bullshit. Now I do understand some are actualy insane, but the majority of the time their not. My father is a lawyer, and said the insanity defence is a last resort when the defence is desperate. What are your thoughts on the insanity defence, do you agree with me that it is used way to often?

It is indeed, but not as much as your implying. I can understand that not only are there people that are truly insane. But I can also see how some situations, cause people to simply react before they think.

I would put it to how our brain is wired. You may be to shocked to think, but you brain still tells you to react, and that leads to bad decisions.

In your example, it really would matter how it happened. Taking his head off with a shotgun, or sawing it off over the course of a hour with a dull knife, are 2 completely different crimes. 1 takes one second of bad judgement, while the other takes a commitment to the crime.

if my information is correct the 'insanity defense' is only used in TV series and hollywood productions because in reality it is extremely hard to pull off.

You may be to shocked to think, but you brain still tells you to react, and that leads to bad decisions.

Hmm, that might be true ...but isn't it "bad decisions" to commit any crime? And my personal thought is that it's ALWAYS "bad decisions" to commit crimes, thus the punishment should be dealt out.

Taking his head off with a shotgun, or sawing it off over the course of a hour with a dull knife, are 2 completely different crimes.

How so? ...just because one is quicker than the other? What difference does it make to the victim or to society? They are NOT "completely different crimes"!!

Your explanation of the time-limit is ignorant. I.e., what was he doing in front of the guy WITH the shotgun in the first place?

In Dallas, just recently, a woman cut off her babies arms with a standard kitchen butcher knife ...she was deemed "mentally disturbed" and was sent to a "mental institution". She got up, went to the kitchen, picked up the knife, walked back to the babies room and then hacked off one arm, then, while the baby was screaming in pain, she hacked off the other arm. Mentally disturbed? Well, no shit, Jack!!! But she murdered the baby ...ain't no two ways about it. She should have been fried!!

Mamby-pamby, doo-gooder, liberals have made this nation a mockery of justice.

Baron Max

Hmm, that might be true ...but isn't it "bad decisions" to commit any crime? And my personal thought is that it's ALWAYS "bad decisions" to commit crimes, thus the punishment should be dealt out.

How so? ...just because one is quicker than the other? What difference does it make to the victim or to society? They are NOT "completely different crimes"!!

In Dallas, just recently, a woman cut off her babies arms with a standard kitchen butcher knife ... She should have been fried!!

Mamby-pamby, doo-gooder, liberals have made this nation a mockery of justice.


Going to have to agree with Max on this one (*gasp*). Just because someone takes an hour to commit a crime doesn't mean they were 'more sane' than the other. Even if you are reacting quickly, if you can't tell that shooting someones head off with a shotgun is wrong, then it doesn't matter how long it takes you to do it.

I heard a story about how a woman killed her 4 kids age 7, 5, 3, 2 or something. Anyway, point is that she chased each one of them around the house in turn and drowned them. I don't care how mental she was in that hour, she should have been shot on the spot by the first cop to get to the scene.

JLocke

PS. Max remind me never to do the *action* ever again...

Well, if someone takes the time and such to saw someone's head off with a dull knife, laughing all the way, they're certainly crazier than just some guy who shoots someone in the face with a gun.

Well, if someone takes the time and such to saw someone's head off with a dull knife, laughing all the way, they're certainly crazier than just some guy who shoots someone in the face with a gun.

Well, whether you take the time to hack away at someone or you just shoot them in a flash of anger, either way you shouldn't be able to go to some comfy mental institute where they feed you and stuff, you should be put in a cell 4ft x 4ft x 4ft...

How weird is the word comfy. I was looking at it, and I was convinced I spelt it wrong. Just stare at it. Comfy. Hmm...Sorry.

So we started discussing something that only marginally exists`?

Well, I think if they did the crime, they should do the time, even if they are insane or not.

We libertarians call the insanity defense "discrimination against the sane."