Her (now ex) husband put up the fight for the insanity ruling.

the worst part of that whole story was that her husband knew she was coming apart at the seams and discouraged her from seeking help for it.

He also encouraged her to have Mary, the youngest, after her shrink told them that if she had another child, she'd go back to being psychotic.

Which is why I consider him morally responsible. At minimum.

I don't do criminal law, so I won't analyze on that score.

I get that it's awful and I get that people want this woman locked up because she committed the act. But I get really, really pissed when people automatically assume that pleading mentally ill is a cop out of some sort.

People DO NOT get treatment for mental illness in prison--I can personally attest to this fact. Not even the most seriously ill people. They are a danger to themselves, other prisoners and prison guards and personnel. Shutting them away in a prison cell because they committed a crime doesn't make them not sick. Their illness tends to get a lot worse when left untreated and in the stressful situation behind bars.

I've dealt with a schizophrenic brother in prison. I had to fight tooth and nail to get him what little treatment he did get. He got worse when he was there. Had he been able to spend his two years in a mental hospital, that might not have happened.

The husband fucked up big, he definately bears some responsibility. But it seems as if he's taken responsibility in the ways open to him. He's remarried yet he is still caring for the ex wife he helped drive nuts. He really could act all self-righteous and walk away but he hasn't.

It's just tragedy on tragedy.

I feel strongly that insane people are not well-served by the prison system. (It's not designed for that, although heaven knows they try.) Putting an insane person in a mental hospital is the only appropriate -- ethical, practical -- thing to do. Putting someone insane into a prison is cruel and unusual punishment, and might be downright dangerous.

It is the responsibility of a mental hospital when acting as custodian on behalf of the state never to release someone who is not fit to be released. (Unless you're Reagan, and think that insane homeless people are good for the nation. t /bitter ) Prisons release the unfit all the time, when their prison terms expire.

Oh, x-post by someone who has been there and ate the t-shirt. What Cashmere said.

This is the part of the story that I find amazing. Rusty Yates divorced Andrea Yates after the children's June 2001 deaths and recently remarried. He said they are still "friends" and reminisce about the children.

WTF? Don't understand that.

She's not going to get out. Nobody is going to want to be the person who released someone who methodically killed four young children. Can't really comment about the verdict though. Without hearing everything the jury did, I really can't criticize them.

It's just tragedy on tragedy.

That's for damn sure. There's no possible justice here. She's done the most horrible thing that could ever be done to herself.

But I get really, really pissed when people automatically assume that pleading mentally ill is a cop out of some sort.

I know this is probably how I read to you, but I really didn't mean it that way. I don't think it's a cop out. Truly. I'm sorry if I upset you.

While we didn't have to deal with it ourselves being 2500 miles away, Joe and I watched his family go through trying to get treatment for his cousin who is also schizophrenic (He's in for killing his sister). He's getting his medication and some treatment in prison, but very very little.

But in cases like this, involving children, I get unreasonably angry and probably make broad statements that I shouldn't. So, I'll just go over there and sit back in my corner and stop upsetting people I care about.

x-posted with Firefly:

Dunno if this has been posted, but... Ita Moon stickers! (closeup) (A whole bunch of Firefly -themed oval stickers (the kind you see on cars in Europe showing what country the car is from.))

Also, "Niska's Skyplex sticker" and "This Land sticker." And a bunch more.

I completely agree that nobody wins when the criminal justice system locks the insane up with criminals.

He said they are still "friends" and reminisce about the children.

That sentence seems like a gross simplification of the interview I saw with him. It was more like "well what DO you talk about?" and him all "the children, we both miss them, half the time she doesn't remember what happened to them."