bubbysmommy wrote:

Guys,
We need more people like you in this world. I have often wondered over the years how different life would have been had just one person stepped up & done the right thing. *sigh*

*sigh* indeed, in many ways those who did nothing are more responsible than Allard ever was, he at least was 'suffering' delusional behaviour and mental illness, before he went off his meds let aloen afterwards, what is their 'excuse/reason'? probably just #not wantig ot get invovled'

I do still miss her terribly & I think this is why I want justice for all those that have died the way that she & Rachael did.

which begs the subjective question 'what is justice?'

As for executing those that are known to be mentally ill.
I still go back to this. If they are together enough to form a reasoned plan & know the consequences of those actions, then they should be held to the same standard as someone that does not suffer from mental illness. The standard is now & has been, that they know the consequences of their actions. Jerry Allard did indeed know what would happen when he did this. He made several statements that made that perfectly clear. Therefore, I would have no problem sleeping at night knowing that he had been executed.

(general comments not aimed at anyone particularly)

and yet would he and others with similar issues have done what he/they did had he/they not been delusional even before he/they went of his/their meds?

possibly not --- ergo these folks ARE in effect being executed because they are mentally ill, sure the reasonaing and rationale are complex -- and i'm in no way leaping onto karma's 'nazi's' bandwagon -- but i do think these questions have to be raised and considered, -- in a respectful manner of course -- given we are talking about killing these people for actions undertaken as a direct result of their mental delusions/health problems ---

should people who act under delusions, even if some part of them knows they might be commiting a wrong action, be judged akin to people making non-delusional choices and ergo be killed via the death penalty?

there maynot be a 'right' or 'wrong' answer but i think to dismiss the 'delusional/mental health' aspect based solely on whether someone knew the act was 'right' or 'wrong' is to misunderstand the nature of mental delusion, and to ignore a key element that makes these folks significantly different to 'sane' murderers.

or maybe it is cruel to keep folks alive who have commited horrors under the nfluence of delusional behaviour, god knows mental institutions for the criminally insane are hardly pleasent and definatly NOT a soft option.

*sigh* difficult questions, probably no 'right' or 'wrong' answers.

bx

Karma_Yeshe_Dorje wrote:

I have been reading about this problem.

~Wikipedia~

Of course criminal behavior carries a social stigma. It is supposed to.  I do not understand what you want here. You need to be more specific. Are you trying to say that criminal behavior should not have negative social consequences?   

stigma in relation to people with mental illness can be understood as a combination of problems of knowledge (ignorance), attitudes (prejudice) and behaviour (discrimination).

~International Journal of Mental Health Systems~

30% of the general public thought that someone with a mental health problem could not do a responsible job.

~Community Care~