Posted on 11/08/2007 5:17:11 AM PST by CT-Freeper
“She hoards all kinds of junk she picks up at tag sales: pot tops without pots, costume jewelry, old shirts and once even brought home an old bicycle without a chain.”
Well, I’m busted, LOL!
We busted a woman shoplifting in our store a while back. She was mad as a wet cat, flailing around; just flat-out nuts!
She was screaming, “Can I call my Lawyer? Can I call my Husband? Can I call my Therapist?” LOL! This wasn’t her first bust, but this is the first time they actually arrested her, so you know she’s been stealing for a long time.
Lots of whacked-out people roaming around free out there...
““The most important thing here is not the paintings, it’s my wife.””
Typical amoral “loving” attitude. The paintings are important to OTHER people. A nutty wife does not have the right simply to act out her mental illness regardless of the interests of others.
And her husband is a model facilitator. He talks almost like an abused spouse. Anything which makes his wife “happy” is all right.
Mental illness is a danger, to the victim, and also to society. It is not true, though, that status as a “victim” entitles one to get away with crimes. The crimes must be stopped, and further crimes prevented. It may mean locking up this klepto, or otherwise restricting her rights.
It would have been nice if her husband had shown some ... let’s say, responsibility, himself.
She's not going to prison because of her illness, she's going to prison because she stole. Somehow I just knew the old *but she's so sweet* bit would come up.
Sounds like he's got his problems, too.
If this guy knew she had these kinds of problems, where the heck did he think she was getting the money for all this junk? Not only that, it’s obvious that many of these paintings are not just garage sale junk. He should be charged, too.
It’s a copy and it’s valued at $50,000.00? I wonder were the value comes from.
LOL. I guarantee you she ain’t so sweet.
This is the hardest problem in the world to handle. If I could figure it out, I would be a millionaire.
My husband was bipolar. This could easily have been my story. The answer for me was to stop working and stay home and give up my future financial security in order to caretake. It ain’t easy, either, because these types are almost always irrational and abusive.
Jail is not the answer. These people are truly ill. But society should not have to deal with these people. They can leave disaster wherever they go. If they can get their illness under control, they are gifted, artistic, and prolific. Unchecked, they leave disaster wherever they go. Walking time bombs. Jail is just more destructive for them.
The best answer is to have a caring family that understands the illness and has the resources and will to take care of them. Then again, that’s the answer to most things.
I can't imagine but if she won't take care of herself, and her family can't take care of her, she has to be locked up somewhere.
She's not being put in jail because of her illness. Right now jail is the place because of the crimes she committed. Maybe they can evaluate her there and decide what needs to be done.
ping
Ok, but what's the purpose then?
There's no deterrent effect if the woman is mad as a hatter.
Sometimes what happens (and I know it happened with me, and it seems it happened with several others I read about, like Andrea Yates) is that the family simply doesn’t realize how sick the person is.
The doctor tells you, and all the signs are there, but it is very hard to truly realize and internalize that the person is totally irresponsible and capable of doing the most irrational things.
I mean, this is your spouse. You married them, you love them and they seem normal. They start to say and do weird things. You take them to the doctor and they get put on meds (or sometimes not; our psychologist didn’t realize my husband was bipolar until he jumped on his endtable screaming in his office. And bipolar people have no respect for the meds, they often just go off them because they “feel great”).
But it’s very hard to realize the person you thought normal is suddenly, without obvious warning fully capable of say, chasing a cableman down the street screaming he’s destroying the minds of children. Or going out for “a ride” and coming home with $20000 worth of furniture bought on credit. Or, God forbid, screaming racial epithets out the car window at a black man. And you look at them and say, “How can you do that!”
And their answer is, “I’m fine. What’s wrong with you?”
The first few times they do it, it catches you by surprise. After that people usually wise up. But sometimes the first time is the time that is a doozy. I didn’t realize the problem I had until the postal inspectors showed up at my door.
After that, I never left him alone with the kids or a credit card in his wallet. I never let him deal with servicepeople. I never asked him to go anywhere to run an errand. I never sent him anywhere alone, at all. We didn’t even let him drive unless he was having a really, really good day. Mind you, he always thought he was “Just fine. Really.” And you know, he was, 90% of the time. So you feel rotten saying, you can’t watch the kids. But that last 10% was the kicker.
LOL. Hope there’s no art on the walls as she led into court.
Justice.
Justice isn’t about deterrent, it’s about justice. If you do the crime, you do the time. She stole. The law says there’s penalties for that.
So intent is irrelevant?
The law says there’s penalties for that.
And the law has recognized that insanity is a valid defense for crimes for over 800 years, and is valid in federal jurisdictions and 47/50 states. Now you're picking and choosing which laws you respect?
Fine, then everybody who commits a crime can escape punishment simply by claiming mental incompetence. That’s better?
If she was out murdering people would you not want her locked up just because she was crazy?
Well, you tell me: does that happen?
Is the mental insanity defense really that easy to prove that America's prisons are empty becaues nobody can ever get convicted? Of course not, because your hypothetical is absurd.
People who are genuinely insane, who cannot participate in their own defense, have never been treated as criminally culpable, not since the very beginnings of the anglo-saxon legal tradition. This isn't a new hot shot defense lawyer trick, this is an 800+ year tradition.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.