Quote:
Originally Posted by CuteOldGuy
Gandhi said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."
We have Holmes in custody. He won't be killing again. He should be studied, so we can find out what the hell went wrong in his brain that caused him to do this. It is a unique opportunity. Too often these people kill themselves, leaving us with nothing but questions.
If we insist on "eye for an eye" retribution, we will miss a golden opportunity to take this tragedy and possibly have something meaningful come out of it. Something that may give us a clue how to prevent this from happening again.
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What about the deterrent effect of punishment? Most people refrain from crime because they fear punishment. If someone is considering, committing a murder, and knows that the worst that will happen is that he will be treated like a psychiatric patient, surely that person, in most cases, will be more likely to murder, than if he knew he would be executed for his crime.
Severe punishment for murder is not always effective as a deterrent, but more often than not, it is.
I think the minimal standard of knowing right from wrong is an appropriate standard for the insanity defense. If you start going beyond that, before you know it, nobody will be responsible for their actions. By the strictest standard, everyone is somewhat nuerotic. If imperfect mental health always mitigates guilt, how can we hold anyone responsible for anything?
The possible gain from psychiatric study of Holmes, is more than offset by the loss of deterrent effect from not executing him.
