In your opinion, is a mentally ill murderer as bad a person as a non-mentally ill murderer?

Question

Just a thought I had after seeing Life On Mars, episode 1 recently.

Please note before posting your answer: I am not judging anyone, laying down the law, preaching, disclosing my own personal veiw/lifestyle choices ect or looking to inflame. Just interested in the different answers to the question.

many thanks

Answer 1

i think you could reason with a non-mentally ill murderer. like if they were gonna kill you, you could reason with them and most normal people would think about what they're doing. a crazy person behaves more irrationally and you cant predict their behavior.  

Answer 2

no..i say not.a mentally ill person has a difficulty in drawing a clear line between good and bad.that's why courts around the world give out lighter sentences for "crazy people".

Answer 3

No.....BTW I watched the original BBC version of Life on Mars...quite good but I did not like the last episode so much..maybe the American version is better

Answer 4

Yes.  I reason as this:  there's no such thing as a "good murder" by the standard definition of good, not in the ability to murder.  I think that all murders deserve life in prison.  I think that if a person in mentally ill, then possibly family members or doctor's should be partial liability.  I suppose that's stretching it.  But, think about it...if a patient is so mentally ill that it "causes" them to murder, I say causes as such because I may not believe that mental illness can cause anything except mental despair, it must have been obvious.  Obvious or not, it's rare for someone to "just murder" out of nowhere.  Though I am sure contractors can site such occurrences when this even has happened.  It's rare.  As such, mental illness murders should be "awarded" the same sentence as a "normal" killer, ceterius paribus (all things equal).

Answer 5

well,  murderers are pretty bad in general.

but, a mentally ill murderer should be kept in a mental institution for the rest of their life.

a non-mentally ill person should be kept in a maximum security prison for the rest of their life.

Answer 6

A lot of times a mentally ill person doesn't understand the differences between right and wrong so I personally don't think they are as guilty as a non-mentally person. However I think they should have a lot of testing to see if they are a really mentally ill person or if they are just trying to get a lighter sentence.