Board to decide bus beheader's fate

[flamesaresmokin]

http://www.calgarysun.com/news/canad...6/9575646.html

Pretty scary that a guy who cut someones head off could possibly not even be confined to a mental health facility after something like that.

He is clearly insane and should be receiving care.......i'm no psychologist but i'd imagine something like this warrants decades of treatment and observation to clear up. His conditional release would be a danger to all of society no matter how much he is supervised.

[HOOT]

Not only could he be released but they may not be able to tell anyone he is out. Canada is so weak when it comes to punishing those who do wrong.

I just hope they release him in an area close to those who were protecting him for his crime!

[Da_Chief]

THIS IS A LOAD OF CRAP!

But the board’s chairman says releasing the decision could violate Li’s rights as a patient

Why does he even have any rights? This man took another mans life and its his right we're worried about?

Vince Li was found not criminally responsible for killing Tim McLean last July on a bus heading to Winnipeg, so it is now up to a review board to decide what happens.

Pathetic.

The Justice system here is an ABSOLUTE JOKE!

[the crispy badger]

i have the feeling someones going to get rid of him so he won't be able to kill anyone else.

[Bagor]

But the board’s chairman says releasing the decision could violate Li’s rights as a patient

Don't see the problem. He's been found by expert diagnosis to be mentally ill.

He's being treated as a patient. He'll be locked up in a long term psych unit for the rest of his life.

[Jayems]

Hold on. If he says he's sorry, shouldn't that be enough?

[worth]

Put his head in a vice and cut it off with a hack saw.

[Agamemnon]

I watched an interesting documentary on National Geographic last night that said the US Prison System is the world's largest Mental Health Provider. Something like a quarter of inmates had some form of mental disorder.

It's amazing how many people with mental illness end up in the slammer. And treatment there is just great.

I guess the question ends up being, if you're mentally ill, and commit a crime, are you to be treated the same as someone who is mentally fit who commits the same crime?

Interesting stuff.

[Burninator]

Indignation and cynicism about Canada's justice sentencing!

Cruel and unusually medieval style punishment!

Mental illness denial!


I think that should cover it.

[mikey_the_redneck]

Originally Posted by Agamemnon

I watched an interesting documentary on National Geographic last night that said the US Prison System is the world's largest Mental Health Provider. Something like a quarter of inmates had some form of mental disorder.

It's amazing how many people with mental illness end up in the slammer. And treatment there is just great.

I guess the question ends up being, if you're mentally ill, and commit a crime, are you to be treated the same as someone who is mentally fit who commits the same crime?

Interesting stuff.

I saw that show too and it was super interesting..................it questions the entire "corrections" system and its methods. I thought the part about prisoner isolation making them mentally ill was fascinating as well.

If I ran the country-side, the psycho be-header would be hung on live TV........and then shot repeatedly.

[Agamemnon]

Originally Posted by mikey_the_redneck

I saw that show too and it was super interesting..................it questions the entire "corrections" system and its methods. I thought the part about prisoner isolation making them mentally ill was fascinating as well.

No doubt... and I think one of their main points was that some prisoners going into isolation are already mentally disturbed, and this magnifies the issue. They also tend to get fully released into society with no treatment, no understanding of the rules, and tend to 're-offend' and go straight back to prison.

If I ran the country-side, the psycho be-header would be hung on live TV........and then shot repeatedly.

So... basically you agree then, that if a mentally ill person commits a crime they should receive the same punishment (assuming hanging/shooting was normal) that a mentally fit person would committing the same crime. Seems a bit wierd.

[mikey_the_redneck]

Originally Posted by Agamemnon

No doubt... and I think one of their main points was that some prisoners going into isolation are already mentally disturbed, and this magnifies the issue. They also tend to get fully released into society with no treatment, no understanding of the rules, and tend to 're-offend' and go straight back to prison.


So... basically you agree then, that if a mentally ill person commits a crime they should receive the same punishment (assuming hanging/shooting was normal) that a mentally fit person would committing the same crime. Seems a bit wierd.

Well I sure as hell dont think they should get off scott free. I think the mental illness card gets played too much in court.

I mean this guy cut someones head off and paraded around on a bus for christ sake.....he should not be free to walk the streets again because he poses a risk to others. Who knows when a guy like that could just up and snap again.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by mikey_the_redneck

Well I sure as hell dont think they should get off scott free. I think the mental illness card gets played too much in court.

The mental illness card? Someone on trial can't just play the mental illness card, in the same way that a black person might play the racist card. The person actually has to be found to have a mental illness, at which point they aren't really playing a card, so much as they actually have a mental illness.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by flameswin

The mental illness card?

I think a lot of us get our ideas on what goes on in the courtroom from television dramas and motion pictures.

But I do think this guy should stay behind locked doors for good. Is it possible to be cured of an illness that makes a person do something like this? I don't know, but I kinda doubt it and would rather not find out. Head-cutting-off is a pretty serious symptom of your disease.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

I think a lot of us get our ideas on what goes on in the courtroom from television dramas and motion pictures.

But I do think this guy should stay behind locked doors for good. Is it possible to be cured of an illness that makes a person do something like this? I don't know, but I kinda doubt it and would rather not find out. Head-cutting-off is a pretty serious symptom of your disease.

Oh I agree with you, I just thought the term "playing the mental illness card" was kind of silly, as if to suggest that people don't have to be diagnosed by the proper medical staff, and instead laywers just kind of go "ummm, so yeah, we'd like to uhhh, you know, umm go the mental illness route".

[pepper24]

I hope this guy dies of old age in whatever mental institution he is sent to.

[Agamemnon]

Originally Posted by mikey_the_redneck

Well I sure as hell dont think they should get off scott free. I think the mental illness card gets played too much in court.

I mean this guy cut someones head off and paraded around on a bus for christ sake.....he should not be free to walk the streets again because he poses a risk to others. Who knows when a guy like that could just up and snap again.

I'm sure no one in this thread suggested he get off 'scott free'.

I'm more trying to gauge where people's opinions lie on; 'should someone with mental illness who committed a crime be treated the same as someone who is mentally fit who committed the same crime'.

The answer in this thread appears to be yes.

[Agamemnon]

Originally Posted by pepper24

I hope this guy dies of old age in whatever mental institution he is sent to.

You're so cruel!

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Interesting topic.

One might say that indefinite time spent in a psychiatric institution might be as bad or worse than an indefinite prison term. Especially with the resurgence of electro-shock therapy and the current system of experimenting with drug cocktails on people.

Taking a course right now on Madness and Sanity in Society and its clear our understanding and treatment of the so-called "mentally ill" hasn't progressed as far as we might think it has.

The judicial system, prison system and mental health system all need to be looked at in much more detail.

As for your question Ag, I think that someone who is deemed sane when they commit a serious crime must be handled differently than those who are not deemed sane. Whether either could be rehabilitated is questionable to me. Tough issue.

[HPLovecraft]

What kind of wood are we talking about here? Plywood? Oak? Because if it's a 2-x-4, I'd say he's dead, IMO. Any kind of pressed wood, though, and I think he can come out of it with a pretty big goose egg, but no worse for wear, otherwise.