Death Penalty for Individuals with MR

[LimeyFish8]

Last year the supreme court dictated that no one with mental retardation should be put to death under Attkins v. Virginia. The courts left it up to the states to decide how to regulate this issue. The DAs are interested in not introducing the results of MR tests to the trial while representatives of the individuals with MR want the results introduced during trial.

Personnally I believe that the mental culpability should be taken into account when trying a person. The DA's claim that it would misrepresent the facts and skew the jury, but having MR is something that skews your life and controls your state of mind, a focal point of most trials and jury descisions.

What are your thoughts? (please post)  

[[Onigiri]]

My math teacher, since she was 6 years old, has been stalked by the same man for her entire. When she was about 15 he had broken into her house and grabbed her, but she was able to get away and run to her next door neighbor's house and call her parents and the police. The man had lifted the sliding glass door on the side of their house off the hinges and had entered the house that way. And when he was caught he told the police flat out that he would have raped and killed her if he had gotten the chance. He had already raped and slit the throat of another young girl and had gone to prison for that, but was released because his lawyer's claimed that he was mentally retarded. That he didn't know any better. And he got away with only a few months for what he did to her then.

Throughout college and moving several times, he's continued to stalk her. He's broken into her house numerous times and gone through her family's things. And now he seems fixated on her daughter. My teacher's guess is that he can't tell the difference between her daughter and her, because of his mental issues. (She's red-headed and so is her daughter so that might be part of the reason he can't tell the difference even though there's the whole age thing.)

But everytime she calls the police and they catch him for trespassing and such, they can't convict him because he 'doesn't know any better'.

I think, even though you have a mental disease like that and you can't always learn or function like others do, I still believe people have a conscious that tells them what's RIGHT and what is WRONG. I believe that man knows what he's doing is wrong, but as long as he can get away with it, then there's no stopping right?

EDIT: Though, there's always different cases here and there that you have to see all the facts and issues before you make a decision that the actions of someone with MR are serious enough to cause a conviction. I can't really say what I mean, but you can't try something by an overall standard. There's always exceptions to the standards depending on the different occurences.

 

[Ponworxz]

The mentally handicapped are people too.

 

[CainZeros]

Some mentally handicapped people are actually quite bright. I'm sure they know the difference between right and wrong.  

[[.Riku.Diku.]]

Depends on how much their minds are impaired. In my opinion, if they do the sort of thing Oni has just stated, more than once, they should be locked up. All are equal under the law, no matter what. A crime is a crime. A victim is a victim. A criminal is a criminal.  

[LimeyFish8]

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[Goddess_of_lint]

I'm sorry but I'm taking a totally different slant on this... I'm against the Death Penalty whatever mental condition the offender has.
I don't understand how such a developed Country as the US can still think the death penalty is allowed and the US being majorly Christian as well, that baffles me even more.
How in anyway can someone construct in their head that its a good idea, OK, these people are murderers but its like taking the power of God (or any other diety) in your hands. Prison and mental institutions are there for a reason...  

[Die_Katze]

I think clearly this is case by case. The death penalty should only be for people who clearly can understand what they have done.  

[Zanareil]

The Death Penalty shouldn't be used in normal cases, I believe it should be saved for those who have MR but has done their wrong over and over again after being TOLD not to do it.

Mental Retardation is a state that they have to have more time to develop whats going on around their surroundings. This means that people with MR can THINK, which means that they are the same as an average person. As other people has stated, people with MR have wits as a normal human does, and people who have commited a crime and has MR probably knows the difference between right and wrong.

In some cases, MR shouldn't make the police, government, attornies, ETC think different about a person. If they take their time slowly if they really think this person has MR issues, they shouldn't evict their period of time in jail just because they have MR. Or at least they should be put into a mental asylum of some sorts; rapists, murderers, homicidals, ETC HAVE a mind and is PART OF THE PEOPLE. They are no different from normal human beings, once again. The Death Penalty should be used wisely and rarely.

 

[[Onigiri]]

[ Message temporarily off-line ]  

[Gorilla and You]

The death penalty should be relative to anyone who commits manslaughter, mentally retarded or not. Maybe it's just me, but I don't want people to be killed just because somebody doesn't "know better", then have them walk off, and do it agian with no consequence.  

[[.Riku.Diku.]]

Count Doom Fist

The death penalty should be relative to anyone who commits manslaughter, mentally retarded or not. Maybe it's just me, but I don't want people to be killed just because somebody doesn't "know better", then have them walk off, and do it agian with no consequence.

Thank you, you have just stated my exact views. <3  

[LimeyFish8]

rikudoll

Count Doom Fist

The death penalty should be relative to anyone who commits manslaughter, mentally retarded or not. Maybe it's just me, but I don't want people to be killed just because somebody doesn't "know better", then have them walk off, and do it agian with no consequence.

Thank you, you have just stated my exact views. <3

This is just taken into consideration during the sentencing segments, which means that the accused will be facing death or life in prison.  

[Nufink]

Mentally Retarded people should get the same punishment as anyone else. They know better. If someone was too handicapped to not the difference between right and wrong, at the extremes of murder, or rape, I think they should be under constant watch, and have someone taking care of them.
I go to a highschool, and part of the high school, is the BC school for the deaf. About 30% of those deaf kids have mental handicapped. Some, have very sever cases, as I've talked to some. And even they no the difference between right and wrong. It was quit interesting to see actually, as someone tripped, and 4 people laughed at the kid who tripped, the mentally handicapped teen started screaming at them, "No! Don't laugh. That's bad! That's mean! Don't laugh! Don't laugh!" Someone had to take him away, because he kept screaming "That's bad, Don't laugh." I think it's interesting that this teen, with a mental handicapped, knew that laughing at someone who tripped, was something not right to do. So if he knew that, I think he would know that murder, or rape was also bad.
If you're growing up with mental retardation, usually you would be doing things that most people wouldn't. Parents, guardians, teachers, would always be telling you if that was right, or wrong. They'd say things like "No, that's bad!" and most of the time, after telling them enough, the mentally handicapped person would start to realize what's right, and what's wrong. It defintly takes longer then a person without a handicap, but pretty soon, they'd get it. And by adult hood, I am pretty sure they'd know what's right, and what's wrong. And if they decide to do wrong, they should not blame it on their handicap.  

[[.Riku.Diku.]]

Exactly, Nufink.
But one the other side of the coin, being mentally handicapped also increases sex drive, which may make some driven to rape. Not saying it's right AT ALL, but that may be somewhat to blame.