Yesterday U.S. District Judge Larry Burns ruled that Jared Loughner, the man who opened fire into a crowd in January killing six, including a federal judge and a nine year old girl, and shooting Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in the head, was declared mentally incompetent to stand trial.
Judge Burns’ ruling comes after Loughner’s legal team described him as “gravely mentally ill.” The ruling essentially means that Loughner is incapable of understanding the charges against him and is incapable of assisting in his own defense.
Loughner, who has a history of mental instability and schizophrenia, had to be dragged from the court room yesterday as he screamed, “thanks for the freak show, she died in front of me!” It is unclear who he was talking about.
Family members of Loughner’s victims say they support the ruling, and that it is clear he is not mentally stable.
So what does this mean? It means Loughner can be held indefinitely by the state in a prison controlled hospital for the mentally ill.
Some have expressed disappointment that Loughner may never officially by found guilty for the crimes…
What do you think?
I agree that there is a grave difference between a cold blooded killer and someone whose mental illness has them on edge. I would like to disagree on the punishments and acknowledgements given. He was mentally stable enough to plan multiple shootings (regardless if there was a motive)and the should be recognized as a guilty man. I know many people who have schizophrenia but I trust in me that they would never kill anyone due to it. The fact that his victims families agree that he is too mentally ill and incapable to with stand trial can truly describe just how mentally ill and insane he actually is. I wonder how he would be treated or what crimes he committed if he were to be incarcerated in a federal maximum security prison...
ReplyDeleteWhen we studied this topic in psychology class first semester, we related the idea of someone "being mentally unstable to stand trial" to the movie "Nuts." I believe that Loughner is a substantially worse case than that of Claudia Draper. If she is mentally unstable to stand trial, than he must be, as well.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I believe that this is a lose-lose situation for Mr. Loughner. He will not be able to leave prison unless he stands trial; and he will not be able to stand trial until he is deemed mentally stable to do so, which may be never. Until Loughner has the ability to stand trial, he will be doing what all people wanted to see him do: rot in prison.
I would like to see him found guilty for the charges against him as much as anyone would; but, as long as I know that this psychopath is behind bars, I can sleep soundly at night. However, in the future, I hope to see him stand trial and be found guilty of his crimes. He deserves to pay for what he has done, but until then, perpetual imprisonment is fine with me.
-Jake M.
Although I wasn't at the trial myself, his past medical history and outbreaks in court seem to suggest that the judge was correct in his ruling that Loughner is incompetent to stand trial. With this conclusion, inevitably many will feel that it isn't fair that he will never be correctly charged for his crime. However, being kept in a mental hospital for the rest of your life can many times be similar to prison. It is a place where many people do not want to be, and a place where they will ultimately feel trapped and imprisoned. On the subject of whether it's fair or not, everyone will have different opinions.
ReplyDelete