[Dion]

Originally Posted by pylon

Dion. I get you want to educate us all and have sympathy for Li/Baker. It is possible to sympathize with his plight, and at the same time want him locked up. I don't deny he was acting on a force beyond his control. I don't deny he has remorse. But I don't care.

His body, his teeth and his hands still committed this act. And if denying him freedom seems cruel, so be it. I'm cruel.

Given the horrific nature of the crime I can see and understand why you and countless others would want him safely locked away from society. Maybe my symapthy for Li comes from a childhood friend who had that illness, I don't know. The whole thing saddens me greatly.

At the expense of society looking cruel, and backwards, I'm ok in this case. The safety of the general public, the value of Greyhound as a company who employs thousands, and the sanctity and peace of mind of the hundreds of people he has victimized, and will continue to victimize to their grave, trumps any freedom he has earned. I don't care what the experts say, I want him locked away safely. And that's my opinion.

The fact we don't have a smiliar case like this to compare to does make me a bit uneasy. We have all these stats but still nobody can say for sure that Li won't stop taking his meds. I just wish there were conditions attached to his discharge where he has to be monitired to make sure he takes his meds.

And I am dreading the day they set DeGrood free and the hug-in that arises here starts for him. I had the opportunity to meet the parents of a victim. And they have ZERO sympathy for his plight.

I don't know if I would call it a hug in. An understanding of the illness might be more appropriate. That said i'll wait to see what happens before I offer any opinion on Degroot.

If I had a child and it happened to mine I can't say that I would feel any different than the parents of the victim. It's tragedy a parent should NEVER have to endure.

I don't deny mental illness needs to be studied and understood. But I don't believe these potential time bombs should be roaming the streets after they have proven what their minds and bodies are capable of during an episode.

It's a highly emotional issue that has got everyones backs up with people trying to find what would be a safe enviroment for both Li and the public at large.

I respect you as a person Pylon and will just say there are parts of this where we'll have to agree to disagree