Violence and the Mental Illness Excuse

I'm in the process of moving my blogs to Google's Blogsite.  The following post was originally dated November 6, 2017.

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Re: "A Separate Justice System for the Mentally Ill?"
Ozy.com; Daily Dose; Jan. 5, 2017; Libby Coleman

http://www.ozy.com/fast-forward/a-separate-justice-system-for-the-mentally-ill/74505?utm_source=dd&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=01052017&variable=e65694d331035292eae700e2949ce2c6

I must respond to the article noted above.  It seems as though every day there is an atrocity committed by someone claiming “mental illness”, and I am sick of it.  “The devil made me do it” doesn’t cut it, folks.

If "no one in their right mind" would commit heinous crimes like mass murder, the implication is that all of those offenders suffer from mental illness.  Should we then excuse these behaviors, diverting them to "safe harbors" for "treatment" only after the act?

This question raises a corrollary query: Should every person be screened for deviant behavior, so that they can be removed from society before such deviant acts can be committed?  Should they be quarantined, removed from "normal" society and prevented from owning a car or truck, a gun, sharp objects, or anything else that can be used as a weapon?  Of course, such a suggestion is, itself, insane.

What is "deviant" behavior anyway, if there is no longer a "normal"?  Who determines what is normal, and by what criteria?  The very idea of any external person or entity making such a judgement is repugnant.

The result of the inability to prevent deviant behavior until such acts are proven to be imminent, based upon evidence which qualifies under jurisprudence, is that we are doomed to the reactionary stance of dealing with the aftermath of these acts.

Mankind has committed acrocities against mankind since the beginning of time.  Are we to turn the other cheek, forgive and forget, and move on?  Contrary to most religious beliefs, this is an unrealistic solution which would only lead to an increasingly rapid decline in civilization, and the ultimate destruction of society.  However, neither will the problem be solved by resorting to vengeance - "an eye for an eye" justice.

Until recent history, criminals at a capital level were terminated with prejudice.  Today, we have swung to the other extreme, excusing such acts as the result of mental illness.  There can be no excuse for capital crimes, no “get out of jail free” card.


We are left with the quandary of how to prevent such behavior, or dealing with the equally unacceptable, but inevitable, consequences.