If a murderer has a mental illness, should it be taken into account when juries sentence them?

Question

-Does it depend on what mental illness the person has?
(such as schizophrenia or depression or PTSD)

-Does the brutality of the murder change your opinion?
(such as the victim was shot once vs. the victim was shot
10 times, then stabbed 15 times)

Answer 1

It is usually decided before the case ever goes to trial by a competency hearing and evaluations by court appointed psychiatrists if the defendant is competent or his mental illness is too debilitating for him to stand trial or if he belongs in a mental institution.

Juries do not decide on the sentence, the judge does, juries just decide guilty or not.

I think if the defendant shows a propensity toward violence they should have to stay locked up in an institution or prison.

Answer 2

YES, mental illness must be taken into account when the offender is being sentenced. Mark Heyrman, a University of Chicago law professor and chair of the mental health advocacy project, said the increased use of mental illness evidence, particularly as a mitigating factor, is a good thing.
What we have is to determine intent. Those that are mentally ill do not have clear cut intent and that is required to order the death penalty for murder. The instances of abuse, however, are presumably outweighed by the instances in which mitigation evidence of mental illness is crucial. The Supreme Court has indicated its interest in the area by taking up the topic more frequently in recent years and accepting several cases this term on the topic of mitigating evidence. Psychiatrists and criminologists have been working on the fact of "diminished responsibility" when it comes to sentencing and the death penalty. Read the sources below.

Answer 3

Certain mental illnesses can constitute a defence to the charge. Other mental illnesses can lead to the dropping of proceedings, with the defence lawyer admitting the facts as stated on behalf of the client and the court making a hospital order. Certainly no person appearing in court charged with an offence who suffers from mental illness should fail to make the court aware of it and no court should deal with such a person without ordering psychiatric reports.

Answer 4

Isn't it the judge who sentences a convict? If I am correct in that, most of the time the illness will only be used if entered as evidence. In which case, they would probably be institutionalized.

There is no reason to leave a killer on the streets, illness or not.

Answer 5

Honor and respect for the victim's families might call out for strict penalties. I'm not sure I'm for the death penalty.
Let's assume all murderers are insane.
A sane person would feel terrible remorse knowing they'd killed someone. So much so, that they might kill themselves.
A plea of insanity would put someone in a mental health facility. Treatment might help this person and return their sanity. Upon realizing they'd killed someone, they would feel terrible remorse. I go back to above.......
I also don't like society paying for room and board for a convicted killer for years......I pay enough taxes, thank you.
All of the logic above suggests a quick death penalty.........

Answer 6

If the guy has a mental illness and kills someone, he still doesn't belong on the street. He has to be away from people. I don't want to find out he got off and killed another person. Even if he can't be held accountable, he shouldn't be on the streets.

Answer 7

via fact the Catholic Church has been preparation exorcists returned, human beings could have the demons bumped off. So there in no longer a stable reason to be depressed or loopy. as quickly as the demons are bumped off there's a sparkling course attainable to salvation, melancholy is a fantasy, have you ever no longer heard. it incredibly is a psychological affliction invented to make funds, much like alcoholism. tell me which you arise each and every morning and Jog a mile yet nevertheless experience depressed. it incredibly is what the scientific community does not elect you to comprehend: the parable of organic and organic melancholy many professional and lay human beings immediately think of melancholy would be brought about with the help of "chemical imbalance" interior the ideas even nonetheless not one of the "chemical imbalance" theories of melancholy have been verified. a number of them are suggested with the help of Dr. Andreasen in her e book The broken ideas. workout will treatment over ninety% of all depressions. "treatment"

Answer 8

Yes, it should. They should be placed in a mental hospital to get treatment and serve out the sentence. It does not stop the punishment phase, but the illness dictates that they are ina way not responsible for their actions if they are truly mentally ill.

Answer 9

How do you decide this one? Mental illness should be taken into consideration but should have nothing to do with sentencing outside of the death penalty.

Answer 10

If it wasn't taken into consideration as a mitigating factor for the person's guilt or innocence, it should not be considered for sentencing.