Tuesday, March 12, 2002

 

Does anyone think it's time for a complete overhaul of the American justice system? What kind of justice is it when OJ can play golf to his heart's content, but a seriously mentally ill woman faces death or life in prison? I'm in no way condoning the heinous crimes Andrea Yates committed, but she's sick. I'm wondering if the verdict would have been the same if men suffered from postpartum depression. But that diagnosis aside, she schizophrenic as well. If she's considered guilty, her doctors and her husband should be as well. They're the people who put those children in jeopardy. They allowed those children to be in the care of a woman who wasn't mentally able to discern right from wrong because of an illness. I hate to keep bringing up stories I wrote for the paper, but a few years ago I did a series on mental illness. It's a scary, scary thing when not treated properly, or ignored (like Rusty Yates did). One of the things that scares me is that it's just as much of an illness as cancer or heart disease, but it's not treated that way in many cases. The one thing the people I talked to wanted me to stress in my stories is "We're not crazy. We're sick."

Before I get off my soapbox, I have a little bit more to say about Rusty Yates. He said he began to see signs of postpartum depressionn and mental illness in his wife after their third child was born. But he got her pregnant two more times?!? If I could, I would file a wrongful death civil suit against him. I hope someone in Andrea's family does that.

posted by Anne 3/12/2002 11:49:00 PM