Florida Teen kills Parents and then hosts a facebook party

[Deckerd]

I would broadly agree, barring the barbarity of capital punishment; but there are reasons why children aren't tried as adults. This is because you can't have it both ways. If a child can't drive, can't vote, can't have sex and has none of the legal or fiscal independence of an adult, then the law can't try them as an adult.

 

[flandry84]

Horatio whips off sunglasses and leaps into action...

 

[RJDiogenes]

the kid is old enough to know what he did was wrong and baring any extentuating circumstances, do the crime, do the time.

The extenuating circumstance is that he's mentally ill.

 

[Deckerd]

Apparently 'mentally ill' means that he cannot be saved and must be exterminated as soon as possible.

 

[RJDiogenes]

An unfortunate number of people believe that to be the case.

 

[Sparky]

Say hello to Florida's Death Row, kiddo.

Ol' Sparky can't wait.

I think i'm getting a bad rap around here....

 

[sojourner]

I never understood the insanity defense when it comes to murder. Shouldn't we consider everyone who commits murder to be insane?

 

[Pingfah]

No I don't think so. Some people kill just for profit, others kill because they hear voices in their head and suffer from uncontrollable paranoia. There's a pretty big difference there.

You are not required to be insane to pull a trigger.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

And so the media sharks looking for another Casey Anthony have smelled blood in the water.

The bloodlust in this thread is disgusting. All of you calling for this kid's death--whether he did it or not, mentally ill or not--should be ashamed of yourselves.

 

[sojourner]

No I don't think so. Some people kill just for profit, others kill because they hear voices in their head and suffer from uncontrollable paranoia. There's a pretty big difference there.

You are not required to be insane to pull a trigger.

But that just leads to the conclusion that on some level it's a sane choice for an individual to kill someone. What kind of society is that?

Killing for profit?? At what point does it become a rational idea to kill someone for money? How much is enough?

We'll leave out "self defense" as a reason to kill as that obviously is to prevent a murder.

 

[FordSVT]

No I don't think so. Some people kill just for profit, others kill because they hear voices in their head and suffer from uncontrollable paranoia. There's a pretty big difference there.

You are not required to be insane to pull a trigger.

But that just leads to the conclusion that on some level it's a sane choice for an individual to kill someone. What kind of society is that?

Killing for profit?? At what point does it become a rational idea to kill someone for money? How much is enough?

We'll leave out "self defense" as a reason to kill as that obviously is to prevent a murder.

People who kill other people are not "insane". "Doing something bad" is not insane. Our ancestors didn't think twice about bashing in the neighbour's skull, people do things for profit or when they are enraged. We're conditioned in our society to behave a certain way, but that behaviour is programmed into us with the assumption that our wiring is correct. Clinical insanity, so to speak, has a very specific set of parameters attached to it. You have to be incapable of being aware of the consequences of your actions, for example. Also, only about 1-2% of convicted murderers are actually "successful" with an insanity defence, and by successful I mean "locked in a mental institution for violent offenders for the rest of the lives". Also, "temporary insanity" is bullshit, no one uses that defence successfully anymore, not since the 50s when we started to actually understand and define mental illnesses more scientifically. Getting really fucking pissed off at the dude banging your wife and blowing his brains out five seconds later is not "insane", it's simply bad judgment.

 

[sojourner]

In a weird way I'm agreeing with you. The act itself is a moment of the ultimate bad judgement. I am not saying that everyone should be getting away with an insanity defense. Just the opposite in fact. Since from a certain point of view every murder is a moment of insanity, then no one should be able to use it as a defense.

 

[CorporalClegg]

And so the media sharks looking for another Casey Anthony have smelled blood in the water.

The bloodlust in this thread is disgusting. All of you calling for this kid's death--whether he did it or not, mentally ill or not--should be ashamed of yourselves.

What saddens me most about this is, there are now three cable networks dedicated to this sort of thing. Why can't they deal with crap and leave the news channels to cover ... the news.

 

[Gov Kodos]

In a weird way I'm agreeing with you. The act itself is a moment of the ultimate bad judgement. I am not saying that everyone should be getting away with an insanity defense. Just the opposite in fact. Since from a certain point of view every murder is a moment of insanity, then no one should be able to use it as a defense.

Insanity as defense to find someone not guilty grates because it sounds like the person is 'getting away with the crime'. Sanity would be better left to the punishment phase after guilt or innocence is declared. It really shouldn't determine whether the person committed the crime or not, but it should be a factor in the treatment after guilt has been established.

On another tangent, too early for Lizzie Borden jokes?

 

[RJDiogenes]

Anybody who can murder another human being is missing a vital component of their own humanity; they are insane.

 

[Lilyful]

This makes me sick.

I get not liking your parents. I get fighting with your parents. But you have to have major problems to do this.

 

[Cakemixo]

In a weird way I'm agreeing with you. The act itself is a moment of the ultimate bad judgement. I am not saying that everyone should be getting away with an insanity defense. Just the opposite in fact. Since from a certain point of view every murder is a moment of insanity, then no one should be able to use it as a defense.

I agree that it was bad judgement. He may be a victum of his own passion. That does not make what he did any better. It does mean that he's not mentally unstable. It is not that he knew right from wrong, but he did not care if what he was doing was right or wrong.

 

[Pingfah]

No I don't think so. Some people kill just for profit, others kill because they hear voices in their head and suffer from uncontrollable paranoia. There's a pretty big difference there.

You are not required to be insane to pull a trigger.

But that just leads to the conclusion that on some level it's a sane choice for an individual to kill someone. What kind of society is that?

Killing for profit?? At what point does it become a rational idea to kill someone for money? How much is enough?

We'll leave out "self defense" as a reason to kill as that obviously is to prevent a murder.

Your comments don't really address reality, insanity isn't a medical condition in it's own right, it is a legal term used to describe various psychotic disorders.

Plenty of people have killed for profit or revenge, only to regret it, and even welcome punishment. These people are not sociopaths, they may not be suffering from any determinable mental disorder. If you don't believe the distinction is important then fair enough, but it exists nonetheless.

 

[Deckerd]

Anybody who can murder another human being is missing a vital component of their own humanity; they are insane.

I think you're confusing sociopathic with psychotic.

Holdfast would be the person to enlighten us but this kind of thread is way too dull for the Perfectly Groomed One.

 

[Broccoli]

I saw this story yesterday, and after reading more into. But to kill your parents and throw a party. Talk about an unstable child.

Hey, be nice. He just lost his parents.

I never understood the insanity defense when it comes to murder. Shouldn't we consider everyone who commits murder to be insane?

Despite what TV and the movies say, the insanity defense rarely is used or even successful. Mainly, this is because it is incredibly difficult to prove that someone was insane as defined by law at the time of the crime.