Wednesday, July 26, 2006

 

Breaking News: Yates Found to be Insane

Just minutes ago a Texas jury found Andrea Pia Yates to be not guilty by reason of insanity. Yates, who drowned her five children to try to save them from hell when she, in a state of serious psychosis, believed that Satan was inside of her, had previously been sentenced to death. Instead Yates will now be committed to a mental hospital where she can receive the treatment that she so clearly needs. You can read more about Yates' case in Saturday's post below.

Sadly, even when there was so much clear evidence of mental illness in the Yates case, the state of Texas still argued that she did not meet their standard for being legally insane. This standard is similar to that employed by Tennessee, i.e. that a person know that they are going to be executed and know why. Fortunately, in this case the jury was able to see the truth despite the state's obfuscation. I only wish that the same could be said for the hundreds of mentally ill inmates around the country and the dozens of those suffering from mental illness and sentenced to death right here in Tennessee. Maybe we can all take some hope from the yates decision that our society may be moving toward a more just and understanding way of treating the mentally ill.
posted by Wiesendanger Permalink  
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