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Originally Posted by fredr123
Consider for the moment a 19 year old male with a severe mental disorder. Perhaps he has the mental functioning of a four year old. Maybe he has no concept of money. Would you hold that person criminally responsible for taking a candy bar at 7-11 without paying for it? Probably not. Now take that example and see how far you are willing to stretch it. What kind of offences WOULD you hold that guy responsible for? What if, instead of being severely mentally handicapped, the person had some other recognized mental disorder? What if the disorder was just recently included in the DSM-IV-TR rather than one that has enjoyed relative consensus for a long period of time in the psychological community?
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The difference is, this guy is not a risk to the well-being of the general public.