Why is the penalty for killing a child less than for killing an adult?

Question

Why is killing someone because you're depressed less bad than killing someone because you're psychotic?

Is a community sentence sufficient punishment for killing your own child?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/6076112.stm

To Mandi: I know about postpartem depression - I have a degree in Psychology. And I have a child.

But why should this one mental illness be special? We would never let someone off with a community sentence for killing an adult because they're depressed - say because their partner has been having an affair. I'm interested as to why we judge this differently. Is it the attitude of society to the punishment of women? Or our attitude to the value children, as dingoblue says, viewing them as chattels?

Personally, I'd have a lot more sympathy if this woman had killed the baby in a rage and immediately owned up. But she planned the killing, and lied time and again to try to get out of being punished: for my money, those aren't the actions of someone who has lost their reason to mental illness.

And by the way, Mandi, who's the moron - me or the person with a 1-year-old baby who admits to being addicted to nicotine?

Answer 1

Because in the back of our minds, no matter how very wrong it is, we still view our children as being objects we 'own' instead of precious beings we are charged with protecting and caring for. It's not right, but I suspect that is that reason.

Answer 2

1. because our judicial system is out of whack another thing is a person who accidently kills someone with in an accident and is at fault gets more years than a drunk driver who kills someone in an accident and another thing is if a person brutally rapes and beats a child or anyone really puts that person through so much pain before killing them and then the murderer gets to choose the most painless way to die. thats not that fair



2. Why would she do that to her own kid? It's despicable.

Anyway, i think the prisons are overcrowed, so thats why they let her off, otherwise she would have gone in


I was amazed by the verdict here. she admitted to killing the child due to her post natal depression but has only been given a community sentence? I agree its insufficient and can only hope that she gets the help she needed before the killing and that there is something we've missed as to why she was given such a lenient sentence.






3. Good question! Our society is totally wacked. There should be no difference. The problem is, there are too many "special circumstances" which enable some people to get out of hard time. It is not fair or right. Murder in any form is plain and simply murder. We can only hope that she lives with the pain for the rest of her life.






4. Because in the back of our minds, no matter how very wrong it is, we still view our children as being objects we 'own' instead of precious beings we are charged with protecting and caring for. It's not right, but I suspect that is that reason.



there is no excuse whatsoever for killing a child it should be life for a life and that includes hanging how many paedophiles would re offend if we hung them high ?


5. Wow powerful Question.. The whole system is so messed up. If they let a creep like that John Mark Karr go after all the crazy sh-- he pulled off then anything goes..I'm sure there are more nuts like him on the streets than good people..




they say post natal depression,I say there's plenty of help out there,she should of gone to prison,she mastered the plan then lied & lied,cunning & ruthless.



6. Of course it isn't, but law is made piecemeal rather than as a whole so it's inconsitant. Hence you can make a baby at 16 but can't vote. How can you trust a 16 year old to raise a child but not a vote? Many laws make no sense comparatively, but that's just the system of making laws we have.

I really think they should have a parliamentary commitee to sort all this out. Hell, there are commitees for everything, perhaps even a commitee for commitees. But we have these insane situations where the law looks foolish - and that can't be good.




7. Because under English Law, there is still the concept of "Mens Rea" - the guilty mind.




8. because children are more useless to the society where as adults can play a large part




9. It isn't, the penalty for murder is the same no matter who the victim, if it is only classed as manslaughter, then there are lower penalties than life imprisonment that can be passed. In cases of killing while suffering from depression or a psychosis, then the charge is often reduced as it is classed as diminished responsibility. In the case above she was suffering from post natal depression, and therfore was classed as diminished responsibility,. The fact that she now has to live with the fact that she killed her own child is a major punishment in itself. She has to undergo a period of supervision, and the court did state that the authorities had some responsibility as they failed to keep check on her.
















MY ANSWER IS ALOT BETTER THAN THOSE LISTED ABOVE
MY ANSWER IS WTF IS YOUR PROBLEM U ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT THAT KIND OF ****?

Answer 3

Read up on postpartum you moron. obviously you are a man or you have never had kids. Every woman understand what postpartum is like. Some are smart and get help ASAP and some dont or dont recognize the symptoms. (and if you say you have ne er experienced anything but bliss after having a baby... you must've been medicated,or lying. because every woman goes through the haromonal changes from pregnant to non-pregnant). There is a difference between plotting a bloody, grotesque murder or street shootings or being a victim of war.
Having a child, and your brains haromones are slowly trying to get back to normal because you arent pregnant and bam, you become depressed and some sortof psychosis occurs.
Most women are smart and get it treated. its natures way of getting the haromones back to normal, the postpartum period is normal, every woman goes through and not all MURDER their kids, if the post partum is left untreated then, it can get worse and yeah, you're a greater risk. When you think about it, when these women snap out of the depression and realize what they have done, i can only imagine how horrible and even more depressing that is. no only did they lose control of their mind because of the haromones, but as a result of that they lost their kids, and everything else just piles on top of that...
See, when people post crap like this it ticks me off because i had a friend who had post partum badly, and after i had my own daughter I had it for maybe a month or so. It is a real thing and it is treatable. Its people like you that post stuff that riles everyone up and will most likely cause LESS WOMEN TO GO FORWARD AND GET HELP FOR THEIR POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION.... which is a damn shame. because we need to get the word out abou this REAL thing. not have women scared to death that they are feeling depressed and oh god if i tell anyone they will think i'm some crazy person or killer...
I think life in a nut house with parole would be a good punishment. jail... the woman is forever in jail in her mind heart and soul.
*NOTE*** there is a difference between planing a murder and it happening suddenly, I completely agree with that part, but you would think as a shrink you would know then or havent you guys over where you are gotten up to speed???
if she planned it then yeah she does deserve some jail time, but other wise, toss her in the nut house.
****LOL**** how can my child be addicted to nicotine??? lol what a stupid comment!!!!!
Ever since i got prego i stopped. thanks for visiting my myspace page though :)

Answer 4

It isn't, the penalty for murder is the same no matter who the victim, if it is only classed as manslaughter, then there are lower penalties than life imprisonment that can be passed. In cases of killing while suffering from depression or a psychosis, then the charge is often reduced as it is classed as diminished responsibility. In the case above she was suffering from post natal depression, and therfore was classed as diminished responsibility,. The fact that she now has to live with the fact that she killed her own child is a major punishment in itself. She has to undergo a period of supervision, and the court did state that the authorities had some responsibility as they failed to keep check on her.

Answer 5

Of course it isn't, but law is made piecemeal rather than as a whole so it's inconsitant. Hence you can make a baby at 16 but can't vote. How can you trust a 16 year old to raise a child but not a vote? Many laws make no sense comparatively, but that's just the system of making laws we have.

I really think they should have a parliamentary commitee to sort all this out. Hell, there are commitees for everything, perhaps even a commitee for commitees. But we have these insane situations where the law looks foolish - and that can't be good.

great question.

Answer 6

I was amazed by the verdict here. she admitted to killing the child due to her post natal depression but has only been given a community sentence? I agree its insufficient and can only hope that she gets the help she needed before the killing and that there is something we've missed as to why she was given such a lenient sentence.

Answer 7

Because the first thing they shout when they get accused of murder, manslaughter, is " insane" and that way they get away with it, I never thought that killing some one was a sane thing to do to any body child or adult, you would get a heavier sentence it you drove too quick because you MIGHT have killed some one

Answer 8

Wow powerful Question.. The whole system is so messed up. If they let a creep like that John Mark Karr go after all the crazy sh-- he pulled off then anything goes..I'm sure there are more nuts like him on the streets than good people..

Answer 9

because our judicial system is out of whack another thing is a person who accidently kills someone with in an accident and is at fault gets more years than a drunk driver who kills someone in an accident

and another thing is if a person brutally rapes and beats a child or anyone really puts that person through so much pain before killing them and then the murderer gets to choose the most painless way to die. thats not that fair

Answer 10

If this is so, the judge that prosided over the trial should be disbarred. Do your local newspapers know of this? Do you know the program the O"Reilly Factor orGretavanSustren on Fox News? They both have excellent records in this kind of matter. Let them know about this.