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March 02, 2002
The Law And The Crime
Andrea Yates murdered her children; with that there is no dispute. Neither the prosecutor, nor the attorney for the defense denies that fact. What is in question is whether or not she was legally in her right mind? And therein lies the rub.
During the trial Mrs. Yates was asked as to why she chose to drown her five children. She stated that she thought of stabbing them but it would have been to bloody. Secondly, she admitted she couldnt do it while her husband was home because he would have stopped her. Now I am not a lawyer but somewhere in my mind this sounds like premeditated to me. Yet, here I hear the cries already from feminist groups and other left-wing psycho-babblers, that she was temporarily insane due to post par dome syndrome. This would have had to be a really extreme case of this syndrome that many women have said to experience. Even my wife, has said she too has experienced this disorder, so it appears to be more common than was at first thought to be.
So where do we go from here?
The chances are that Mrs. Yates could be declared innocent by reason of insanity. I firmly believe that this law needs to be changed. If Mrs. Yates is found innocent by this law then she will be reprimanded to a facility to cure her. Once cured, she is then released back into society to pick up her life once again. To often I have heard of such cases wherein the patient has some amazing psychological breakthroughs, and released well before her time would have been served in prison. It is my suggestion that the law be changed to read GUILTY, by reason of insanity. This way, it allows, for the accused to be recognized as insane, but still held accountable for the crime. The person would serve his or her sentence after they are brought back to sanity. Either way, the person would spend some considerable time behind a fence.
There is also the matter here of the death penalty, but I do not want to touch on this issue right now. I have already expressed some views on that in a previous op-ed.
Why Should We Even Care?
Recently, the detainees at GITMO had staged a hunger strike over the fact that, due to security reasons they were not allowed to wear their turbans. Hey, I thought, let them go hungry, its not like they arent used to going hungry. However, once again, the whinny hand ringers have come to the forefront, and have prevailed forcing the military to kow-tow to pressure. For the life of me, I cant understand why this is even an issue. The detainees are receiving better treatment than some of our own criminals, or even some of our poorest citizens. Why all the fuss? Well frankly I dont understand. However President Bush in order to bring about a new tone in the nation has written a letter to those of you that feel that the treatment of the detainees could be even more humane. I happen to have in my e-mail a copy of that letter. Herein is the text of that letter, I suggest that all of you read this, and decide for yourselves.
Subject: Letter from the President
Letter from the President of the United States:
Dear Liberal,
Thank you for your recent whiney-assed letter criticizing the
treatment of the Taliban and El Quieda detainees
being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
And, we sincerely appreciate that you've already copied
Hillary.
As part of the Administration's Liberal Empathy Training
Program, you'll be pleased to learn that the Administration
has decided to place one detainee under your exclusive care.
Your detainee is scheduled to be delivered to your personal
residence on Monday.
The detainee is to be cared for pursuant to the standards you
strongly recommended in your letter of admonishment. It will
be necessary that you hire your own caretakers.
We will also conduct weekly inspections, of course, to assure
that your detainee is actually being cared for in the manner
you personally prescribed. His meal requirements are simple,
but we strongly suggest using menus that do not require
utensils.
While he does bite, the rabies test was negative,
although he does have a bad case of body lice that we haven't
completely remedied. Although he is sociopathic and very
psychotic, we do welcome your promised efforts
to overcome that "attitudinal problem" with your promised
counseling and home schooling.
He's extremely proficient in hand-to-hand combat and can
extinguish human life with such simple items as a pencil or
light bulb. We do not suggest that you ask him to demonstrate
these proficiencies at your next bridge party.
He also has the ability to make a variety of lethal bombs from
common household products, so you may wish to keep those items
locked up, notwithstanding that it may conflict with your
moral values or disrupt your maid's daily routine.
Please heed the large orange notice attached to your> detainee's cage:
"Does not play well with others."
Your detainee generally bathes quarterly, with the change of
seasons, assuming that it rains, and washes his
clothes simultaneously. That should help with your water
bill.
Be assured, your detainee absolutely loves pets of all kinds,
but is especially fond of cats and dogs. He prefers them
roasted.
You take good care of our detainee now.
George W. Bush
Ok, are all you folks happy now?
Rich
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