If a mentally ill person gets in trouble with the law should they be treated differently?

Question

My friend's friend got in to some legal trouble and has to go to another state and handle it whether it's jail time or work release. She feels because her friend is mentally ill she shouldn't have to go through this. I diagree.

Answer 1

NO!

A mentally ill, mentally disturbed, or mentally handicapped person should be treated no differently than the rest of us, if they are a criminal.

Here's why:
A murderer kills a bunch of people, including little children. His lawyer says he is mentally unstable. He does not get the maximum sentence, in fact the judge orders him into a psychiatric ward instead of prison. Then, another person kills a bunch of people, and his lawyer isn't smart enough to use the "insanity" loophole. He gets the death penalty.
How is this a fair, consistent, just system?
Here's another little tidbit for your brain to chew on:

Isn't EVERY serial murderer, by definition, insane?
Isn't EVERY rapist, by definition, insane?
Isn't EVERY armed robber, terrorist, or assassin, by definition, unstable?

Every immoral criminal act is a sign of psychotic or sociopathic tendencies. So, why have prisons? Why not release everyone with a doctor's note? Execute all the murderers, retarded, insane, underage, you name it. Make the system fair. There's no reason why one murderer should be executed while another one goes free on a bullsh*t technicality.

"But, I don't know the difference between right and wrong!"
So? How does that excuse you from consequences?
DOESN'T THAT MAKE YOU EVEN MORE A DANGER TO YOURSELF AND OTHERS??? HOW IS THAT A GOOD THING?
Being ignorant does not make you innocent. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. That's what the law says. It should apply equally to everyone.

What do you do with a dog that doesn't know better than to viciously attack humans? You put them down. That's all there is to it. Save the innocent, punish the guilty.

Answer 2

This is how the "insanity defense" works:

If it is determined, in a court of law, that the defendant doesn't know the difference between right and wrong, then s/he can't be convicted of the crime. However, if it's determined that the defendant is a danger to him/herself or to other people, then s/he can be committed to a mental hospital--perhaps indefinitely.

If a person is mentally ill but DOES know the difference between right and wrong, then the person can be convicted of a crime. It's up to the judge and/or a jury to determine whether the mental illness caused "impaired judgment." And--again,--the result could be either a jail sentence or a commitment to a mental hospital, depending upon the exact circumstances.

Answer 3

if a law was broken, someone has to responsible. if she committed the crime because she's mentally ill, then the illness has to dealt with so that it doesn't happen again. she has the right to use her illness as a defense just like everyone else. if they sentence her to jail time, its probably because they didn't think the mental illness came into play.

Answer 4

Mentally ill people need to stay in mental hospitals.