Godboy
Diamond Member
- Dec 29, 2008
- 37,392
- 20,306
If you are able to make the case that you are too mentally incompetent to be charged with a crime, then you shouldnt be allowed in public ever again....and then immediately let go.So
So you have no problem with arresting the mentally ill for committing assault, vagrancy, indecent exposure, burglary, ect? They have severe problems, but they know right from wrong. Giving them a pass on the Oprah defense doesn't do them any favors or make their lives better.
Arrest them. Then what? Are you going to pay for the billions it will cost to hold them? Then what? Release them to be homeless and still mentally ill?
We want the same thing. I realize it is nearly impossible for the mentally ill to get help, and I wish that were not the case. However, I do not believe making them exempt from the law is the way to go. Again, in the Midwest, the mentally ill are expected to follow the law, and to a large extent, they do. There is no exploding incarceration costs. It simply did not happen. The argument that it is cheaper to allow them to break the law is not true. I don't want to even think how much it costs to maintain and clean up after all the enabled homeless camps. If you treat them like real people, they will behave that way.
The person was arrested.
Let go today or in a week what difference does it make?