whoa

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Never heard about this til right now...


http://brianoconnor.typepad.com/animal_ ... ttrel.html

Humz... I hadn't heard of him before but this does not surprise me much.

There is much suspicion that Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, has Asperger's Syndrome (though I suspect the Schizophrenia diagnosis during his trial won him a lesser sentence even though he was found guilty).

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Last edited by Ante on 09 Nov 2005, 4:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I would disagree. I believe a ruling of incompitence should be made based on either the presence of psychosis or mental retardation. If one moves into the realm of Aspergers and Theory of Mind and give leniency based on this, then one must also look into Psychopathy and that these people are just as unable to FEEL things for people as Aspergers are to understand these feelings.

Dr. Robert Hare has done an extensive amount of work with Psychopaths (Psychopaths mind you, not people labeled with Antisocial Personality Disorder). In his earlier studies it is noted (during autopsy) that Psychopaths frequently have a smaller than hormal Hypothalamus (the neurochemical production center of the brain). Thus, these people often need a greater amount of stimulus in order to receive the same amount of chemicals to the brain that most people would have with a normal amount of stimulus.

To make a long story short (too late), Psychopaths often are at just as much disadvantage of TRULY understanding the effects of their actions on other people. It is a different disability but along the same lines as Aspergers in a sense. If Aspergers should be given greater leniency then I don't really see why Psychopaths shouldn't either. This of course for most people is something unthinkable, considering also that it seems Psychopathy is an untreatable condition and actual punishment (to my knowledge) has proven the most effective.

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Last edited by Ante on 09 Nov 2005, 4:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Simply because he has broken the law. Either he is crazy or knew well enough what he was doing. There is nothing built into the law about such exceptions (mind you, which is fairly sad to say).

(Unless of course he were Martha Stewart Then he would be fine, hehe.)


The problem with excusing ONE mental disorder is that based upon such equal thinking in an either Evil or Crazy labeling system and punishment handed down depending, one moves into the realm of excusing them all. However, I have never believed in punishment other than being used as a means to curb undesirable behavior. I truly wish it could be that these people were treated for whichever disorder they may possess which placed them at a disadvantage (if that is at all possible). It's probably no surprise after reading this that I do not believe in the usefulness of the death penalty. To me, it simply seems more like petty revenge, imho. Take that as you will.

I can understand this guys logic. From what I've read, he basically saw arson as a bad tactic. To be honest, I really don't think I have morals in the way NTs do. I know whats right or wrong. I know what NOT to do, in most situations. If I didn't know arson was a "wrong" thing to do, I wouldn't see anything "wrong" with it. What I'm saying is, is that he knows not to do it again. He obviously understands that arson is not a correct thing to do...now. He knew what it was doing, but maybe he was never told that arson's illegal.

As for punishment, a few months in a Mental Hospital seems right. This guy has some serious issues and needs to see a shrink of some kind, not be anally raped by a horny prisoner twice his size. He won't learn anything from prison he doesn't already know. It's a bad place to be, and that's all their is to it. Logically, prison won't help him learn morals.

As for leniency because he has Asperger's, IMHO, it depends on the individual. Every case is different. Just some thoughts.