A Very Merry Unbirthday To You!
Posted on 02/09/2005 6:32:42 AM PST by franksolich
Insane must pay
Norway's Supreme Court has ruled that even those judged as insane when committing a crime must be held financially accountable for their acts, reversing common legal practice.
Up until now insanity has acted as a protection against compensation claims for non-economic damages to victims of violence or their survivors, newspaper VG reports.
On Tuesday the Supreme Court overturned an appeals court decision and ordered a 36-year-old to pay NOK 50,000 (USD 7,600) in compensation despite being assessed as insane at the time of the crime.
"A dramatic change. The Supreme Court is now saying that consideration of the victim is more important than madness," said attorney Christian Lundin, who represented victim Roy Atle Kirkeby.
The assailant, who stabbed Kirkeby at the Plaza Hotel in Oslo in December 2001, had been freed of financial claims by an appeals court.
"This felt incredibly unfair. I sat there the whole time with the feeling that it was all about what a hard time the perpetrator had," Kirkeby told VG.
Kirkeby was working as a guard at the hotel when a man armed with a butcher knife threatened hotel employees in the lobby. Kirkeby was stabbed in the neck and cheek before managing to escape.
The assailant said that his intention was to kill "white" people and that he was Allah's messenger on Earth, persecuted and plagued by magic. Court appointed experts concluded the attacker was psychotic.
"There are a lot of crazy people out there. This won't be the last time someone goes amok," Kirkeby said, and hoped that the decision would also help others.
"This is a significant victory for victims and the bereaved. An important change of course that will have an impact on similar cases in the future," Lundin said.
If a convict is unable to pay compensation the debt passes to the National Association for Victims of Violence.
Since anyone who is merely breathing has obligations towards the society that nurtures and accepts him, even the DUmmies, er, insane, have responsibilities for which they must be held accountable, to the best of their abilities, and not given a free ride for their actions.
How much should we charge democrats?
"Ping" for the Norway ping list.
I looked, but could not find, any Norwegian reaction to the news from Denmark, where the conservative party won re-election yesterday (Tuesday), and by a wider margin than before.
Surely the Norwegians have thoughts about that--as God knows, from reading the Aftenposten, they had considerable thoughts (very hot and very cold) about our American elections three months ago (although some of those letters proved to be from Americans posing as Norwegians).
The assailant said that his intention was to kill "white" people and that he was Allah's messenger on Earth, persecuted and plagued by magic.
Funny, no mention of the attacker's name. Perhaps he's a jihadist?
A new prophet? But since Muhammad was the final prophet of "The Religion of Peace", this man is an apostate for his claim. I see a stoning in his future.
Violence from the Religion of Peace? The hell you say!
Yeah, I know. What was I thinking?
It's amazing how well they gloss over the perp's motivations/religion... if that's insanity, then they need to face up to the fact that a billion people are insane in that particular way.
I can just imagine someone trying to pull an insanity defense for Mohammad Atta. Someone like Ward Churchill perhaps. But it is of course ludicrous on its face.
Yeah, that is a problem with the news media, sir.
This guy was obviously a Muslim, but notice how carefully that fact was omitted.
Unfortunately, we here in the west, because of the "sensitive" news media, which seeks to not offend certain classes of people, we like the Soviet citizens of old, are having to learn how to "read between the lines," to get the pertinent facts.
What a circle of fun history has become.
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