Quote Originally Posted by Thorne View Post
Yeah, this is exactly the kind of prison time I'm advocating against! Hard time should, indeed, be HARD time.
Well yes, isn't it weird that people do not quew up to get in jail?

I think I'd have to stand pat on this one. Perhaps the laws might need to be changed, but there are some who are truly mentally ill when they commit their crimes. And some of them could be treated to have that mental illness controlled. You can justify institutionalizing someone who is ill, either physically or mentally, but I don't see how you can justify withholding treatment for that illness, or for maintaining him in an institution once his illness has been cured, or at least controlled. Yes, the restrictions on this issue would need to be tightened down, a lot, but the attempt at healing such a person should be made.
I agree here. Am thinking of cases where people go crazy...for instance soldiers, suffering from post traumatic stress disorder or chemical poisening - which can affect the brain. People who have been tortured. People who grew up under draconian circumstances, for instance during wars or natural catastrophies. Or people who are simply born crazy because there is something wrong with their genes.

You hear of soldiers who get violents after wars, so what to do with them? Send them to harsh labour for the rest of their lives without treatment because they wanted to serve their country and go crazy in the process?

I have hard of cases where especially people from the latter category have repeatedly asked for help or treatment before they killed, but have been denied.

I am only saying this to point out that things can be rather more complicated than they seem.