By reason of insanity?

[sageda]

Sometimes a defendant gets a lighter punishment or is let off with a sentence into a mental institution because they were under special mental circumstances while committing a crime.

Do you think this law is valid? If so, in what cases? If not, what is an acception? According to your opinion, does Hamlet have a valid reason for murder?

I think it's valid if the person has always had mental issues but if it's something that suddenly came up (drugs, intoxication, temporary insanity), it becomes a very vague and gray area.

[ginayang]

I think this law is valid when a person has serious psychological problems. They practically have a disease so they don't know what is right and wrong. And if Hamlet truly was insane, it does give him a little more boost to commit muder. But insanity is not a valid reason for murder. Murder is murder. No matter what, punishments should be made. But because of Hamlet's insanity, the government should reprimand him a bit less than psychologically stable people.

[juliekim]

It's a valid law but it's true that it's been abused in many cases. Sometimes lawyers who know that their clients can't get away with murder suddenly change their stance and claim that they're insane or mentally-not-in-the-right-situation. I guess Hamlet would be one of those people if he were to have a trial. I wish that he had a good excuse for killing Claudius but unless he was really crazy (which he wasn't) I don't think he has a valid reason for murder.

[franicaza95]

I always thought laws like these are valid because in the case of this law, i mean if a person isnt in control of themselves, then why give them such a harsh punishment. In the case of hamlet, its hard to actually know if he is actually under a state in which he should or shouldnt be punished. I say this because his father just died so he hold on to grief which he starts to turn inti revenge.

[seongrae]

I think this law is valid if one had for long time or several years. However, for someone who just have mental problems for some moment, it is not valid for them because then there will be many people who will going to state that they have mental problems and gets lighter punishments or just sent to mental institution. For the past several months in Korea, there were people who were drunk when they commit crime and got lighter punishments, and of course there were some criticism and disagreements.

[jessicashim2013]

This law is valid in reality but I sometimes question it because it is being abused. If the person actually had mental problems and did not know that seriousness off crime they were commiting, then the law cannot be too harsh on them. Hwever like alcohol or drugs, which is something that can be avoided, then it is the defendant's fault.

[cathysjun]

It's a valid but it the law itself is easy for people to abuse because the law itself is vague. How do people now when one is truly sane and insane? Who determines that? there are endless questions. I believe that no one can truly determine whether one is sane or insane. Hamlet does not have a valid reason to murder his uncle because he did not have any concrete evidence

[RegXD]

Well i think its valid unless it is prove to be true or if it depends on the situation whether it is serious or not. But other than that i totally agree on the valid that Psychological people should be treated properly and being taken care of.

[hannahs]

It is valid if the defendant truly was in a certain state of mind that made them not aware that what they were doing was wrong. It's not right to punish someone that does not have complete control over what they are doing. However, if these people do pose a serious threat to other people, they should be taken special care of so they can't hurt other people. We don't know whether Hamlet is crazy or not. However, he doesn't have a right to kill another person even if that person killed his dad.

[yerin0727]

I think this valid in some ways but not in the other way. It could easily be understandable that if a person that committed the crime was under certain mental issues, that he/she would be let off with the crime. However, I believe that if the person was under such serious illnesses, then he/she should have been take care of by the government or be controlled in a hospital. I still dont think that killing thousands of people just because he/she is mentally ill is okay.

[minjaeyang]

I do not think the law is vaild because being insane does not change the fact that somebody died. Even though a person may have mental illnesse, a crime should be treated as a crime. In the case of Hamlet, insanity should not be considered. This is because Hamlet was acting to be crazy. Even if Hamlet were not acting, his actions still should not be accepted because they are crimes anyways.

[hanbikang]

I think this is valid in some cases if someone who has mental illness had committed a crime it is not his fault because that person is not normal. And people who need to care about the mental problem person is a fault too. They should care to not let them act like that.

[davidh]

Like I said in the other comments, it is not acceptable what so ever. The thing that he had to consider was the consequences would have been. I think he did it on purpose because he is a teenager. It is a age that they would understand anything

[sujeonggg]

I agree it's valid if this person has always been in mental problems. However, I think this person should still seriously be punished or be locked in somewhere to never commit any other crime again. And I don't think any other cases would be valid to kill someone.

[sang]

Yeah I think it is valid for that case then. Though in some ways, it may not seem fair, if you were to think about it, the people who committed the murder were under special mental circumstances. This is only fair because he situation and the motive of the murderer is different and has been affected. So, I agree with what Sageda said.