This
letter to the editor of Newsweek encapsulates what a lot of people feel was the injustice done to Andrea Yates.
JUSTICE OR REVENGE?
As the NEWSWEEK article ?A Crazy System? (Justice, March 25) correctly points out, the Texas statute on insanity is based on the 19th-century English law called the McNaghten rules. Apparently Texans are satisfied to have 19th-century justice applied in their courts. They don?t execute thieves for the theft of a loaf of bread or exile them to Australia, but they still condemn the insane to spend the rest of their lives in prison for criminal acts committed while they are clearly unable to control their behavior. Too bad Rusty and Andrea Yates didn?t buy a home in a state where mentally ill defendants have a chance of receiving treatment for their illness rather than spending 40 years in a state prison. This is revenge, not justice.
Mary Harada
West Newbury, Mass.
I am actually inclined to agree with Ms. Harada. It is too bad that they chose to live in Texas than Massachusetts. I don't want them in my state. If that's the message that Texas sends with the verdict, good!
Comment spam is an ongoing problems that we're trying to address. Previously we required people to create accounts and log in. I am thankful to say that is no longer the case. We're giving Captcha another try and are playing around with a text-based Q&A variant of Captcha. So bear with us as we try to figure out how to best get a handle ont he problem. Please note that any comment on a post more than 30 days old will go into the moderation queue, where I will get to it when I can which could be once a week.
