07-28-2006, 06:01 AM
Quote:Clearly the solution is for society to have 2 types of mental institutions. One is a mental facility where people with mental defects receive care and help, and the other is for the dangerous headcases that have committed crimes of a heinous nature. Gotham has it right. There should be an Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane in every metroplitan area.
I'm only half-kidding with my suggestion.
Joking aside, you make a good point. Jail has two goals - which often like to conflict with eachother:
- Rehabilitation - Exactly as it sounds. Make them a contributing member of society again without fear of criminal acts.<>
- Seperation - Keep criminals who have yet to be rehab'd, or are impossible to rehab, apart from society. Of course the punishment aspect of jail falls under this category as well.<>
[st]
What do you do when a mentally ill convict shows no signs of possible rehabilitation? Since Yates falls into this category (it's rather hard to argue that such a heinous crime could be commited without some hard wired scrambled brains up there), it seems rather silly to put her in a rehabilitation facility. An Arkham Asylum seems rather fitting.
Of course, everything gets bungled on the practical side of things. Who can make these determinations about rehabilitation with certainty, etc? But the underlying idea is solid DeeBye.
Besides, who wants to take the chance of Andrea Yates becoming the Riddler? Not me :P
Cheers,
Munk