An excuse from Justice because of health

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/us/26loughner.html tells us that proceedings against the man who opened fire at a constituent event for Representative Gabrielle Giffords in January, killing six and injuring her and 12 others have been temporarily suspended due to his outbursts in the court and that it is possible that he may never be judged mentally capable of "understanding" what he has done and help in his defense. That really honks me off.

Now lets forget the fact that dozens of witnesses saw him do it. Hells, one cameraman even got pictures of him doing it. Let's just say for the moment that it is not blatantly obvious that he did it. (Okay I know its a stretch but work with me here.) He still needs to go trial. The very idea that this man may get a literal "Get out of Jail Free" card because he "might not understand" what he has done should get everyone riled up. Schizo, Nutso or simply Psycho, he must stand trial for his actions.

Oh I can hear the molly coddlers out there whining about how if the man wasn't in his right mind (I mean come on folks, no one in their right mind decides to gun down a bunch of people that they have never met before) then he shouldn't have to pay for his actions. My response to that is an old truism about the law in which it states, "Ignorance of the law is no excuse." If he committed the crime, he should suffer the consequences of it. (Please note I am being kind and saying if.)

Over my 40+ years, I have seen way to many people who were judged "Not guilty by reason of insanity" and it has always pissed me off. If a person has 12 personalities and #3 decides to take a shotgun and gun down a bunch of people, then the personality's host is guilty. If some kid gets hopped up on Acid and takes a knife to a bunch of other kids, he or she is still guilty. Saying these people weren't in their right minds is bull.

If this nutter is guilty of the crimes arrayed against him then he deserves to have punishment meted out to him to the fullest extent of the law. It doesn't matter if he is Schizophrenic or not because when all is said and done, he still committed the crime. To use an old quote, "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime."