Guilty Is Guilty

Jared Loughner, the man who shot and killed 6 people in Arizona, including a six year old girl, this past January, has been held incompetent to stand trial. The court held that he was incapable of understanding what the consequences of the trial were to him.

This ruling, at the very least, sets up his defense lawyers for an innocent by reason of insanity plea. A plea that I believe should be removed from our legal system. I believe it should be replaced with something like "Guilty But Insane".

Many of you may feel that I'm making a fine semantical point. "What difference will it make if you end up saying he's insane either way?"

Well, I think it will make a lot of difference on a couple of levels. The first would be for the victims and their relatives. Something is just wrong when you judge a person who is clearly responsible as "innocent". It's like you are saying to those who have been harmed, "Just pretend it didn't happen, 'cause you know, they didn't know what they were doing."

By using the word "Guilty" I think you give the victims and their relatives a feeling of justice being done. The person who has caused their loss and pain has been identified and publicly held accountable. That has to help the healing process.

Secondly, by using the word "guilty", it would seem to open up worlds of sentencing options that "not guilty" takes off the table. If John Hinckley had been judged "guilty and insane", even if he became "cured" he would not have to be released, but could just be moved into a regular prison instead of a psych institute. He would not be being let out on weekend passes. He wouldn't have the possibility of being a fee man without an attempted murder conviction tagging along after him. This would remove many shysters incentive for trying to get their clearly guilty clients classified insane.

This would also remove the possibility of yet again having some psychiatrist say some psycho is sane and turning them back out into society. Leaving society exposed to the possibility of having a relapse and a return to their evil ways. Or the alternate possibility that someone beat the shrinks and only played being crazy, and now get out to return to their ways.

So I say it's time for "innocent by reason of insanity" to be retired. Let's admit that it was put in play by a bunch of bleeding heart liberals who felt bad about holding somebody responsible for their acts if they were crazy. I say if you did it, you're guilty! Sane or insane, you're guilty. Being a whack job doesn't make your victim any less injured or dead!