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Well, I'm at work, so I won't listen to the audio.  But I don't really understand.  If the argument is that he is not deemed insane by the courts because there is medication available and the he takes to level him out, then I have no problem with it.  I imagine that without the meds, this guy might have been tried and pled insanity, but given the meds, his insanity plea was rejected.  Again, I'm speculating.

Why would someone need to be made sane in order to execute him?  I don't think the lethal injection or chair really care what sort of mood you're in.

What doctor would prescribe medication, anyway?

I agree.  They should either let him live and treat him, or for god sakes if you're going to kill him kill him while he's insane.

Going entirely on hearsay, I understand the situation to be this: This guy was insane and committed crimes while insane and found guilty of committing the crimes while insane. But the law is that an insane person cannot be given the death penalty. So the state wants to make him sane so they can kill him.

It's totally f'ed up in my opinion. If he's insane, and it's his insanity that caused him to committ the crimes, and his insanity can be cured, then why not treat him and make him a productive member of society? Who exactly is being benefitted by killing him at that point?

I'm against the death penalty for a variety of reasons, but in a situation like this I think we can see that this isn't about justice; it's about revenge. Anyone who would heal someone only to make them fit for killing is ten times the maniac of anyone on deathrow.

Actually, Mustapha, the guy was deemed sane at the time.  It's during his time in prison that he's been judged to have become insane.

That said, I agree with Reg.  I think the primary justification for the death penalty is deterrence.  Whether the guy's medicated or not won't have an effect upon the deterrent effect--therefore, don't prescribe his freedom unnecessarily.

Actually, Mustapha, the guy was deemed sane at the time.  It's during his time in prison that he's been judged to have become insane.

I see. Well, that's better than how the case was originally explained to me. I feel a little less like we're surrounded by maniacs.

Actually, Mustapha, the guy was deemed sane at the time.  It's during his time in prison that he's been judged to have become insane.

I see. Well, that's better than how the case was originally explained to me. I feel a little less like we're surrounded by maniacs.

Now I wouldn't say that...

Cyberpawz

NPR's Libby Lewis

Ideal name for an NPR reporter, by the way.

Yea, because NPR is LIBERAL!  HAHAHA! Good one.

Oh wait, no it wasn't. 

It is (I happen to listen to it every day).  "All Things Considered" is especially liberal, not to mention the Diane Rehm Show (heard around here on WAMU), which NEVER presents the right-of-center POV honestly.

Maybe the ruling was death, with no caveats for permission to alter his mental state.

No...though I'm against all uses of the death penalty anyway.

It puts doctors in a horrible position...and medicating a mental illness is not "curing" a mental illness.  There just seems to be something sick about medicating a mental case so that he's sane enough to kill.

Problem was he was sane when he killed... not before he did...

He went crazy in the joint...

I wrote everything I said with that in mind.

MysticCow wrote:

But he did everything WHILE HE WAS COMPETENT!!!!!  He was sentenced WHILE HE WAS COMPETENT!!!!!!  Next time, you'll get to see the Hammer of Truth (tm) pound it into people's heads.

*ahem*

The Supreme Court has ruled that it is unconstitutional to execute someone who is not sane.  It is akin to "cruel and unusual" punishment.  It matters not if the person was sane during the commission of the crime or not.  It's the fact that there are insane at the time of execution that matters.

I know some of you would have every crazy, child, and retard who was convicted of murder put in the chair, but we need at least some moral guidelines to follow, no?

---

"One thing we've learned is there's a difference between being disappointed and having madmen in authority."

                                                                   --Paul Krugman