What to do with the madman
I think I actually agree that Iryna Zarutska's murderer is incompetent to stand trial. The problem is, I'm not sure our system is sane enough to recognize that he also is incompetent ever to be allowed out of the only feasible alternative to prison, which is a maximum-security psychiatric facility.
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8 comments:
That’s ok. This is North Carolina. Turn him loose; the citizens will take care of him now that they know what they’re looking for.
As of this morning, it's being reported that the Feds also have charges that aren't affected by this state-court decision. There's still a chance he'll live a long and peaceful life in prison.
OK- if we are going to hold parents accountable for the actions of their children,
landlords accountable for the actions of tenants,
gun owners accountable for stolen guns, etc etc-
When are we going to hold judges accountable for releasing violent felons in our midst?
Holding the government accountable? Who knows where that road leads?
Still, I'd probably start with the bureaucracy or Congress. Raising the incentive for judges to keep people locked up longer, if it succeeded, would just mean longer prison sentences for everyone regardless of risk; the logic of that points to life sentences for everything, so the judge can be sure of not being guilty of releasing the wrong person.
Raven @ 12:17 pm
Alexander Muse offered somewhat similar thoughts:
https://newsletter.amuseonx.com/p/if-bartenders-must-answer-for-death
This revolves around that most horrifying of of concepts- that one must exercise judgement, rather than a "no tolerance", "one size fits all" policy.
Guilty but mentally ill. That's the Arizona standard. He would be kept in a prison for the criminally mentally ill until he is "well enough" then transferred to regular prison.
Similar to NH. The saying is that anyone who pleads NGRI must be crazy, because then we (the MH system) owns you forever and you will never get loose. Also true for IST. The problem is that after you have been locked up for twenty years and look a little better, someone starts getting the bright idea that maybe you should be givena chance to gradually increase your freedom, such as in the building, on the grounds...
Or you might come to the attention of some legal agency who cares more about punishing the state for being cruel and making a reputation for themselves as advocate lawyers than for protecting the community, and they might go for years trying badger the court to grant more freedom, promising all sorts of guardrails that fall down when you lean against them.
This was part of my career. Things go wrong. People get released once everyone gets weary. Sociopaths get more flexibility than the mentally retarded. Women get much more freedom than men; young offenders or ones who are now really old inspire pity for emotional rather than intellectual reasons. That this guy has made headlines will keep him locked up longer. That he is a POC will get him released sooner in liberal states.
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