Replies

(Just picking your post among others - nothing personal... Good people can and will disagree about these things.)

"Texas juries have twice ruled that women can kill their children and get off with this lame insanity defense."

Re: "Got off"... Andrea Yates got life in prison, and from all accounts, ever since she was treated enough to come out of her delusional state, has repeatedly tried to kill herself.

" If a father claimed God told him to kill his kids, and he crushed their skulls with large rocks, people would be screaming to bring back the electric chair to charbroil his ass."

Even if it were true that an insane male could not get an appropriate verdict, it wouldn't make giving an inappropriate one to a female to make the injustice "even".

"The prevailing attitude that a mother just wouldn't do something like this unless she were crazy is the sad reality of 21st century America."

Then how come so many women (including Andrea Yates, who IMHO was "crazy") fail to get verdicts of legally insane? Prisons are full of women who would have if they could.

" And what disgusts more than the verdict is that the laws dictate she be committed until she is "well." Now, she won't be out in 6 months but probably within 6 years"

That may be "getting off" more lightly than the death penalty, but it is certainly not "getting off" to the extent some seem to consider impunity... (BTW, I think there should be a minimum time spent committed - like 10 years - before one could be released - and then under supervision.)

FWIW, No one is more sickened by her act than I. I have children of my own and the thought... ugh - no words.
My gut reaction is to torture her to death.

But I do believe it is possible for someone to be so delusional thatt in their minds they believe they are doing the work of God - following a righteous path higher than mere human laws. While I think it is extremely rare, I tend to believe this is one of those cases. Not only are we Texans less likely than most to accept excuses, but it seems even her prosecutors couldn't find paid witnesses to support them.

Good post. I'm getting rather tired listening to people saying they'd like to see Andrea Yates fry.

There is a huge difference between Andrea Yates and Susan Smith. Andrea Yates had been shopped around to several psychiatrists, by her husband. Why on earth he left her with their children, when she could barely comb her hair or dress herself, is beyond me. What a horrible case.

Susan Smith was having an affair with a man who told her he didn't want to deal with her kids, so she killed them. Then she told the cops that a black man carjacked her, and kidnapped the boys. There was even a police sketch of the alleged suspect. Can you imagine if she had gotten away with it, and an innocent man had gone down for her crime?

As for this case, I don't know. Could this woman have just "snapped" one day and started hearing God? God isn't the only one who talks to people. Satan has been known to do that too.