Quote:
Originally Posted by troutman
|
Stats like that one are severely misleading. What it means is 1 in 4 people tend to be diagnosed with something classified as a "mental illness" at some time in their life... unfortunately, environmental things like Seasonal Affectivenss Disorder, and oft-mistaken things like ADD/ADHD tend to really force up the numbers. This is not to mention the environmentally stimulated ones like panic attacks, anxiety attacks, post-partem depression/baby blues (which apparently 1 in 3 mothers get), eating disorders, and even most instances of "mild" depression. 1 out of 4 people aren't ticking time bombs as this stat may lead you to believe.
The question is, what do you do with the small percentage that are ticking time bombs, and this is where the justice system also gets stuck. On the one hand, you can't jail someone for life because they could commit a violent crime, but at the same time, we have stringent gun control laws because they could be used in a violent crime.
With this case, is he mentally culpable? Likely no. The Crown even agrees on that point. However, this doesn't mean he should have any chance at living a free life ever again, and this is where the system fails. It becomes a question of rights and freedoms. Basically, where does his rights to exist end, and society's right to be free from dangerous psychotics like pedophiles, sex offenders, and mentally unstable killers begin. In my view, Society should not be part of a social experiment to see if mentally insane people can be reformed. The price of failure is too high. One life is already forfeited/ruined, if they commit again, that number increases significantly.