Thursday, January 14, 2010
Haq sentenced
Good enough.
In theory death would be better justice, but in practice a "death sentence" is just a vastly more expensive life sentence. At least the insanity defense didn't work this time.
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Semi-related: Wash Gov Gregoire has proposed a new law that would allow the Scottish verdict of "guilty AND insane" instead of the traditional "innocent by reason of insanity." The distinction is more than semantic: when the defendant is defined as innocent he still has "rights" and can't be properly and fully restrained.
This proposal results directly from the Phillip Paul escape last summer. Paul, who had killed an old lady on the commands of his delusional voices, was "innocent by insanity", thus entitled to go on field trips. After careful planning (including sexual bribes to a male guard) he escaped during one of these field trips. Gov Gregoire was correctly enraged by this fiasco, and (totally unlike the Federal response to fiascos) she actually fired the people responsible. Later she introduced new regulations for the state insane asylums, and now she wants to change the basic law.
DAMNED GOOD governance by a DAMNED GOOD governor. I very rarely admire or respect leaders, but I confess to absolutely admiring Gregoire. She has the same "lioness" quality as Maggie Thatcher: the ferocious mother ready to claw and bite through all obstacles to protect the people of her state. ¶ 11:21 AM
SEATTLE — A judge has sentenced Naveed Haq to life in prison without release on his convictions for killing one woman and wounding five others in a rampage at a Seattle Jewish Federation office.
Mental illness impaired Naveed Haq's judgment but not seriously, Judge Paris Kallas said.
"Mr. Haq understood his plan, knew it was wrong, and carried it out anyway," she said.
Good enough.
In theory death would be better justice, but in practice a "death sentence" is just a vastly more expensive life sentence. At least the insanity defense didn't work this time.
= = = = =
Semi-related: Wash Gov Gregoire has proposed a new law that would allow the Scottish verdict of "guilty AND insane" instead of the traditional "innocent by reason of insanity." The distinction is more than semantic: when the defendant is defined as innocent he still has "rights" and can't be properly and fully restrained.
This proposal results directly from the Phillip Paul escape last summer. Paul, who had killed an old lady on the commands of his delusional voices, was "innocent by insanity", thus entitled to go on field trips. After careful planning (including sexual bribes to a male guard) he escaped during one of these field trips. Gov Gregoire was correctly enraged by this fiasco, and (totally unlike the Federal response to fiascos) she actually fired the people responsible. Later she introduced new regulations for the state insane asylums, and now she wants to change the basic law.
DAMNED GOOD governance by a DAMNED GOOD governor. I very rarely admire or respect leaders, but I confess to absolutely admiring Gregoire. She has the same "lioness" quality as Maggie Thatcher: the ferocious mother ready to claw and bite through all obstacles to protect the people of her state. ¶ 11:21 AM
