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Originally Posted by GarnetTigerMom
Yes I have to agree on that too. But funny, that criminal lawyers look for excuse to keep a murder or rapist or any other type of a crimes a person committed to use mental ills for excuse to avoid jail and prison. I wonder if any familiy or people out there think if death penalty put the family to rest or only cause more pain?
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It is very, very difficult to have someone found innocent as a result of mental illness if it has been proven that they committed the crime. It is more likely to ahve them found "guilty but insane." When they are found "guilty but insane" they are committed to a forensic mental institution where they receive treatment for their mental illness. If their mental illness can be brought into remission, they are then transferred to a prison to serve their sentence. Insanity does not relieve the criminal from the punsihment.
If an individual is found "not guilty by reason of insanity", (an extremely rare occurrance because of the strict criteria necessary), they are placed in a mental health facility, not freed to walk the streets.
Likewise, what purpose does it serve to sentence someone to death who is so mentally ill that they are incapable of not only understanding the difference between right and wrong, but unable to understand the nature of their punishment, as well? It is totally contractiory to the purpose of punishment, and at that point beomes nothing more than legally sanctioned murder of those that society have deemed to be of lesser value or defective.