Monday, July 24, 2006
Andrea Yates and the idiots on Yahoo!
I just read a Yahoo! news article telling of the start of jury deliberations on the Andrea Yates trial. Out of curiosity and interest to join in a discussion I clicked on the discussion link at the end of the article. I was so offended by the crass, inane discussion (if you could call it a discussion) that I left the board feeling like I needed a shower. Perhaps it is because I have followed this case fairly closely. Perhaps because I have my own experience with Post Partum Depression. Perhaps because my "christian" eyes were just offended by the filth coming through their words. Mostly I was disappointed that the people involved in the "discussion" seemed more interested in spouting their opinions and insulting everyone else than actually having an intelligent discussion of the situation. To me, the Andrea Yates trial is a complex issue. There is so much that could be discussed. Not approved of, not agreed with, but analyzed and seen as a possibility to bring a very common but not understood topic to light.
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7 comments:
Even Andrea Yates husband (who has since remarried) says he doesn't believe his wife was in her right mind when she killed the kids. She really was in awful straits and this issue should not be in the hands of a jury, but rather some caring doctors and therapists.
There are so many facets to this case. She had PPD after at least one previous pregnancy, she was told by her psychiatrist to not have another baby, her husband pressured her to become pregnant again... I can say from experience, it is a frightening thing to consider something so wrong to be right. Once you are in your right mind you recognize the wrong thinking but remember how right it felt at the time. At the time, it just makes sense. She needs help not only to deal with the mental issues that led to this act but to deal with the fact that it did happen and that she did it. I can't fathom not giving her that help. What frightens me is that many people are so angry over the act that they can't see the person that is left.
yes, she needs help, only from a life time spent in prison. of course people are angry over the act. and stop pointing your finger at the husband because he "pressured" her to have another baby. you don't know their private lives and the actual conversation between those two. I suspect that if she were let out, had more children, she would again commit the same murder. as a christian, one can only pray that she finds the Lord maybe thru prison ministry and is able to ask forgiveness. and yes I know the Lord forgives all our sins when we truly repent of them, even murder.
Anon- you make a very good point. I believe that (at least a year ago) she was willing to have more children, which would only lead to another PPD episode. This is one of the many reasons she needs counseling. I don't intend to "point my finger" at the husband as if it was his sole responsibility, however, he did have a hand in this. He knew of his wife's psychological state and did his part in getting her pregnant again. Perhaps he had not heard of a vasectomy - if she wasn't in a straight enough mindset to fix things herself. I do believe she needs to be locked up somewhere, if not the mental ward than prison but I think she has a better chance at the specific mental help she needs in a mental institution.
So she should not be tried by a jury? That she should just be driven to a therapist appointment? Is she to be excused just because her husband said she wasn't in her right mind? What about the kid who in cold blood shot those people, his brother made the same type comment. Good thing our justice system isn't based on what the family says. There is evil in this world, even in the form of a mom.
No, no, no. She absolutley needed to be tried. I have never thought that she whould walk free. She is a danger to herself and others but if there was ever a reason to commit someone rather than put her in prison it is this. The following is from an article posted on Yahoo! News:
"No one should believe that she is getting off easy. She's going to be committed to mental health facility, probably for the rest of her life. And every time her medicine allows her to regain a little bit of sanity, she realizes what she did to her beloved children and then descends again into some sort of madness," CBS News legal correspondent Andrew Cohen said. "So this started as a tragedy and continues even with this verdict."
She won't be driven anywhere. She will see her therapist and be given her meds, under supervision daily. Tell me, would you want to live in a maximum security psychiatric mental institution for the rest of your life? Does it sound cush?
Evil is rampant in this world. Adn I am actually pretty conservative and pro death penalty. However, I have experienced severe post partum depression. Why God spared my children and not hers, I don't know. I can look now with a sane mind and see the insanity I was in. It is baffling. I don't even have words to describe it. I am accountable for my actions during my life as Andrea Yates IS being held accountable for hers. I am just satisfied that her psychosis is also being treated rather than leaving her in it.
Fortunately the Justice system has a principle where they treat every case as being unique. The jury decided that she was not the same as a kid who shoots people in cold blood. Part of the problem with analyzing something from a distance is that we lack the ability to see anything but a grand principle. Not every woman who drowns their children is insane. But some are.Apparently the jury thinks that Andrea is not guilty by reason of insanity. It is why we hold jury trials I guess.
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