This wacky world

[awetum]

Talk about wasting the public's money...

This is craziness.  It's not like she didn't admit to it.  It's not like there is any question that she murdered her 5 children.  I'm not sure what the question is, but it's not even like she got the death penalty.  Do they think she'll find her innocent with a new trial?  That she'll get a shorter

Comments

Re: *nod* - p.s.

[glass_symbol]

I would also like to add that what most news agencies have NOT reported on in depth is the fact that Mrs. Yates was suffering from very real,crippling, mental illness. We're not talkin' sociopathic shit like Scott Peters - we're talkin' about someone that should have been in a mental facility on heavy medication because of her profound delusions and pain. She may have indeed known right from wrong, but according to mental health reports, it doesn't mean she was capable of acting accordingly. She fell through the cracks, and despite her family's very best efforts to protect her (AND the children) from herself, they received no support from the medical or social work community even after Andrea Yates admitted to experiencing urges to kill her children. The family tried to have round-the-clock supervision of her. The only reason she succeeded in killing those children is because her mother-in-law was late (or had to step out for a bit, I don't remember the specifics) getting over there to babysit Mrs. Yates and her children. Yes, Andrea Yates' family made every attempt to not leave her unattended with the children. A pinko-commie like myself could even argue that the mental health workers that never returned her or her family's calls and pleas for help should be held just as accountable for their deaths, if not more, because they at least were operating from a position of sanity. Mrs. Yates was not.

One could make the argument that her family should have kicked her out or that she should have left or something - but all they could see was a loved one in such desperate pain and they wanted to help her. The reality is that not many people understand mental illness, much less how to deal with it. And she certainly wasn't capable of making informed decisions about her own life. They tried to enlist professional help but none was available to them, so they tried the best they knew how.

Perhaps the public's taxpayin' dollars would be better served actually making her WELL instead of just locking her away out of sight.

*whew* Guess I had some thoughts on that.

Re: *nod* - p.s.

[misspris1965]

Your thoughts mirror mine. Thank you!

Pris

Re: *nod* - p.s.

[bejart]

yes, the system let her children down. It was a completely preventable tragedy and speaks volume about the lack of resources for the mentally ill.