There was an article in the National Post by psychiatrist Dr. Fred Shane, deploring the proposed bill to change the laws regarding those who commit crimes while mentally ill. Read the article then read my response.
We must not let the emotions of victims and their families dictate policies-judicial or political-or we risk falling backward into a culture based on vengeance, an eye for an eye. Yes, we must be mindful of the feelings of those who have suffered greatly, feel their sorrow, but we cannot prioritize their feelings. Justice must be blind to emotion and served cold, eyes open only to facts, a most difficult task for we are emotional beings.
But as Dr. Shane pointed out the facts, today, clearly show that the system in place for those not criminally responsible for their actions is working. For those who have not experienced severe mental illness it is so very difficult to understand that some crimes are committed by people not aware of reality. Think of mothers in a state of post-partum psychosis, who kill their children. Children who would be alive if there had been appropriate mental health care.
If this new bill is passed we will be feeding our deepest and darkest instinct for vengeance and devolve as a society steeped in revenge.
