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Mr 5 0 · 06-21-2002, 10:42 AM

I know nothing of this story but it just shows, again, that the insanity defense is always going to be a problem in our justice system.

Insanity can be faked and you can always find - or pay - a psychiatrist (or two or three) to find someone 'insane'. This may have been the case in the David Attias case you cite here. I have no idea of course and we don't want to put truly insane people in prison when they need other kinds of help and confinement but I fear that too often the insanity defense is a sham used to keep guilty people out of the prison cell they deserve, or in this case, the gas chamber.

Even commitment to a facility for the insane is not always foolproof.

About 13 years ago in CT a man of about 39 who had murdered his mother or father (or both, I've forgotten) and had been commited to a facility for the criminally insane for 24 years managed to receive 'trustee' privileges and was able to walk around the grounds, unsupervised.

Big mistake.

One fine summer day he walked off the grounds, got on a bus to the downtown area (Meriden) and went straight to a sporting goods store where he bought a big hunting knife. I have no idea where an inmate in a facility for the criminally insane got the cash but all the same, he had it and now, a large knife.

The man then casually walked into the crowded downtown area (it was noontime) and at random, lunged at an 11 year old girl and attacked her with the hunting knife, stabbing her about 30 times in a mad frenzy until passersby were able to pull him off and subdue him.

She died on the spot from her wounds - bled to death in a few minutes. The man was put in a more secure facility - forever - and a few heads rolled at the facility where he was given trustee status.

The girls parents sued the state. The stae quickly settled and the parents of the child received a few million dollars but lost their daughter forever to a madman with a knife that was allowed to run around as a trustee although he had murdered as a teenager and was obviously delusional and dangerous.

Insanity is a tricky business. easy to fake, sometimes just as easy to hide and either way it can mess up the justice system when fakers go free (practically) or when the truly insane are not guarded and taken as the serious threat they are.

Now, the Supreme Court has ruled that persons with an I.Q. below 70 - legally retarded - cannot be executed for murder, no matter how many people they've killed.

That's fine but I just hope they never allow these low-I.Q. murderers to go free at some later date or allow them to be placed in some facility with half-hearted security so they may escape and kill again.

As I said, insanity and it's ramifications really makes justice hard to find, much less apply correctly. It's always a guess, at best, and many criminals probably game the system while a few truly insane people may be jailed when they need a different kind of confinement.

We do what we can but my faith in the justice system is only as strong as my faith in humanity, and that's become somewhat attenuated these days.

06-21-2002, 10:42 AM	#2
Mr 5 0 Conservative Individualist Join Date: May 1997 Location: Wherever I need to be Posts: 7,487	Getting away with murder? I know nothing of this story but it just shows, again, that the insanity defense is always going to be a problem in our justice system. Insanity can be faked and you can always find - or pay - a psychiatrist (or two or three) to find someone 'insane'. This may have been the case in the David Attias case you cite here. I have no idea of course and we don't want to put truly insane people in prison when they need other kinds of help and confinement but I fear that too often the insanity defense is a sham used to keep guilty people out of the prison cell they deserve, or in this case, the gas chamber. Even commitment to a facility for the insane is not always foolproof. About 13 years ago in CT a man of about 39 who had murdered his mother or father (or both, I've forgotten) and had been commited to a facility for the criminally insane for 24 years managed to receive 'trustee' privileges and was able to walk around the grounds, unsupervised. Big mistake. One fine summer day he walked off the grounds, got on a bus to the downtown area (Meriden) and went straight to a sporting goods store where he bought a big hunting knife. I have no idea where an inmate in a facility for the criminally insane got the cash but all the same, he had it and now, a large knife. The man then casually walked into the crowded downtown area (it was noontime) and at random, lunged at an 11 year old girl and attacked her with the hunting knife, stabbing her about 30 times in a mad frenzy until passersby were able to pull him off and subdue him. She died on the spot from her wounds - bled to death in a few minutes. The man was put in a more secure facility - forever - and a few heads rolled at the facility where he was given trustee status. The girls parents sued the state. The stae quickly settled and the parents of the child received a few million dollars but lost their daughter forever to a madman with a knife that was allowed to run around as a trustee although he had murdered as a teenager and was obviously delusional and dangerous. Insanity is a tricky business. easy to fake, sometimes just as easy to hide and either way it can mess up the justice system when fakers go free (practically) or when the truly insane are not guarded and taken as the serious threat they are. Now, the Supreme Court has ruled that persons with an I.Q. below 70 - legally retarded - cannot be executed for murder, no matter how many people they've killed. That's fine but I just hope they never allow these low-I.Q. murderers to go free at some later date or allow them to be placed in some facility with half-hearted security so they may escape and kill again. As I said, insanity and it's ramifications really makes justice hard to find, much less apply correctly. It's always a guess, at best, and many criminals probably game the system while a few truly insane people may be jailed when they need a different kind of confinement. We do what we can but my faith in the justice system is only as strong as my faith in humanity, and that's become somewhat attenuated these days.