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Originally Posted by 8sPOT
You're right. I don't understand how someone can viciously murder a random person and say the voices told them to do it.
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Paranoid Schizophrenia. It can make the outlandish propositions or unfeasible things seem real, correct, and logical. Reality can be warped so gradually and seamlessly that it can feel like nothing has changed. This is why he was found not criminally responsible. He was so mentally ill that he could not distinguish real from imagined; right from wrong. He was not of sound mind.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 8sPOT
Then have essentially zero accountability for those actions. I don't dispute the fact that he's not criminally responsible, but that doesn't mean you get let off so easily. There's got to be some accountability there.
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Sometimes justice has no component of vengeance in order to be just. As much as we grieve for Tim McLean and his family if Vincent Li was found not criminally responsible for his death and indignities then justice dictates that he not be punished as if he were guilty. Being found to be NCR didn't result in Vincent Li being walked out the courtroom doors with a taxi chit in hand. He has spent years in psychiatric care under the care of medical professionals while undergoing rehabilitation. Medical professionals who would be certified to be practicing in the field of psychiatry and have supervised his treatment. When they approved his release it wasn't a matter of leaning back in their chairs, glancing at him and saying "Ah, you're alright" in between games of Microsoft Solitaire. It took a long time.
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Originally Posted by 8sPOT
If I were in his shoes I would understand the public's desire to lock me away for the rest of my life.
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He does.
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Originally Posted by 8sPOT
I really don't care at all about what he wants.
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That's why psychiatry is left to the professionals.
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Originally Posted by 8sPOT
How can he be trusted to make decisions for himself?
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We can't develop a department of pre-crime. Logic and law dictate that people should not be punished for what they might do; only for of which that they are found guilty. I appreciate the concerns for public safety but
recidivisim rates among those who have been found to be NCR is lower than for those who have served time in prison after being found guilty.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 8sPOT
He may be a victim in one sense, but he's still a murderer.
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No, he's not. While he was involved in the death of Tim Maclean he was found not criminally responsible for the death.