Travesty of Justice
These beautiful boys are, in fact, NOT DEAD since, apparently, their mother did NOT kill them.
UPDATE
Texans, normally a very "law and order" bunch of folks, also take their religion very seriously. So, I think we finally have found a way to beat a murder rap in front of a Texas jury - convince the jury that you were possessed by the Devil (or at least convince them that you believed you were possessed by the Devil) at the time of the crime:
Ringholz said Yates was delusional the day of the drownings and did not know her actions were wrong, even though she called 911 and knew she would be arrested. Her delusion was that Satan had entered her and that she had to be executed in order to kill Satan, he said. (emphasis added)I can't imagine such a defense flying in a more secular part of the country. This may be one of those instances were a "red state" jury was more liberal than a "blue state" jury might have been.
posted by Pro Ecclesia 8:32 AM
10 comments
10 Comments:
I think the way these children died is probably one of the most disturbing and heart-breaking stories that I've ever heard. Especially what the last child went through.
Wouldn't she have to be insane (or possessed) to carry that out 5 times? I can't imagine how a mother does that while being in her right mind.
As far as jail or a mental hospital go, I don't care what happens to her. Nothing they could do to her would be punishment enough, as far as I'm concerned.
Her punishment will come on a daily basis, no matter where she is, when and if she gets a conscience.
The husband should go to jail, though.
Travesty indeed!
Don't forget little Mary, the youngest of Yates' murder victims.
"Don't forget little Mary, the youngest of Yates' murder victims."
Believe me, I haven't forgotten the poor little thing (especially now that I have a little Mary of my own); I didn't find a photo of all 5 of the children.
But thanks, Dale, for reminding us that there was a 5th victim of this crime that will now go unpunished by our "justice" system.
I don't know about a travesty of justice. If you read the sequence events on Rod Dreher's blog entry: (http://www.beliefnet.com/blogs/crunchycon/2006/07/andrea-yates.html) you have a hard time thinking that she was morally culpable. Of course that doesn't mean she should be wallking around.
May God have mercy on us all!
Jay:
I suspected you knew, but I just wanted it out there for public consumption.
Here's a link to a picture of the whole family, from the Moonbattery blog:
http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2006/07/murder_of_five.html
In one interview, she said that she had made the plans to drown the children the night before.
She also said that the reason she murdered them was because she planned to commit suicide and she was afraid nobody else could or would care for her children.
I guess we're supposed to ignore the fact that she didn't commit suicide.
In a way, she may have saved all the kids, if they all are baptised (or maybe not). They were too young to really have mortal sins. Trust in the Mercy of God for the kids, and the mother as well. She will have plenty of opportunity for reconciliation with God before she goes.
She's 42 now and hopefully she'll be too old to have anymore children. I fear that she'll do five years in the hospital be "cured" and go home to her mother.
I don't doubt that Andrea was depressed but I also think on some level she wanted to either get her husband's attention or to punish him. I think it's very telling that she did not kill herself.
I not only think she was depressed, but I very much believe she suffers from a mental illness.
Please don't get me wrong. It saddens me beyond belief what she did to her children and family. They deserved a chance to have their lives-not be murdered by their mother.
However, as someone who grew up w/ a mentally ill person, I have witnessed actions and ways of a person w/ schizophrenia. Believe it or not, if you have some type of mental illness, you truly may NOT know what you are doing. You may not be morally responsible for your actions. I'm not making an excuse for Andrea Yates. I am offering my experiences with a mentally ill person.
Have any of you experienced it? Or are you offering your comments based on what the media alone provides?
And why do you say you feel she was not suffering from PPD? Are you aware that PPD can peak months even after a baby is born? PPD does not only show itself immediately after the birth. Hormones are a very hard thing to deal with.
Ulitmately justice will prevail in God's terms. Being in a mental hospital is no free ride. Unfortunately, many hospitals treat their patients unfairly, giving them the first easy treatment, not even really helping them or doing any good. They just do what they can to get them out of their hair.
Lastly, each moment Andrea comes back to reality, she will re-live the horror that she did upon her children. Can you imagine that? We're ready to judge her, but seriously think about that-being informed (w/ possibly no memory?) that YOU are the sole responsible party for ending 5 lives-your own children's. That depression load alone will be such punishment we could enver fathom or understand.
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