Discussion for article #238509
If that guy could not fit the legal definition of insane, I don’t know who could.
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He does not fit the legal definition of insanity because he knew what he was doing was wrong not right. That is the dividing line, the ability to know right from wrong and go ahead and commit the act.
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Yeah, that’s what the prosecutor maintained, and the jury believed it. Me, I have my doubts.
ETA: I have been around a couple of schizophrenics who were suffering under audio and/or visual hallucinations. It was my distinct impression that those people were not in the best condition to make sound moral and ethical judgments. I dunno. I just don’t believe mentally ill people should be put to death for actions taken under a condition that’s beyond their control.
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I believe that Holmes is, indeed, schizophrenic. And, as such, the WORST place he could be sent to would be in prison where he won’t get any sort of medical treatment. He’ll just become part of the savage and horrific penal system so frequently shown on LOCKUP! for our entertainment.
But then - society wouldn’t be able to say that he was sufficiently “punished.”
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Do you think they were capable of planning an attack and booby trapping their home like this guy did?
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Competence has nothing to do with it. One of the two schizophrenics I spent time with had gone to Northwestern and had a Masters in French Lit (as I recall). He worked in a machine shop next to mine, and during his breaks would mill incredibly intricate little boxes with reverse threads so that - according to his logic - the DEA would never be able to access the contents. The other guy I knew built a bird house that didn’t have any openings, so, as he explained, the predators couldn’t get in. He wasn’t as smart as the first guy, and ended up working for Goodwill just in order to live. But the first guy could have done anything, pretty much, if he were so inclined. Holmes sounds like a very smart guy, but crazy as a bedbug. It seems obvious to me from everything I’ve seen of him.
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My opinion (which I realize isn’t shared by many) is that Holmes wasn’t convicted of the attack so much as he was convicted of being insane. He. is. insane. The fact that he was CAPABLE of putting together and executing elaborate acts of murder doesn’t stop that. To me, the issue isn’t so much knowing right from wrong so much as it’s an issue of being able to control the impulse of doing wrong even if you it to be so.
Anyone who does what James Holmes did has to be insane. The suffering he caused will be with the victims for the rest of their lives. If anyone deserves to be put to death - James Holmes does. He is a monster.
That said - George Bush (Jr) and Dick (head) Chaney are also psycho murders who should be put on trial for the horrendous acts of violence they lied us into.