This kid should have been locked away in an asylum

[quinnox]

A long time ago. From reports, everyone knew he was a ticking bomb and disturbed for years. But now a days, most of the asylums and institutions for the disturbed have been closed or abandoned. Some of this due to political correctness as well. Also, because he was from a rich family, that might have also played a part in him not being investigated or committed to a mental institution. This tragedy could have been prevented if he had been put away due to being criminally insane.

[defacto7]

1. If criminal insanity could be determined at a whim

there would be no murder at all.

[former-republican]

2. "criminally insane"

Do you know how difficult that is to prove in a court of law?

Never mind for someone that hasn't even committed a violent act yet.

[Warpy]

3. Maybe it wouldn't have gotten that far.

Maybe appropriate outpatient treatment might have helped him. It's just impossible for families to get that treatment for any child over 18 who is too paranoid to accept it.

Our mental health system, never particularly good, has been broken for a long time.

Get used to these guys going completely off the rails and committing mass murder because it's going to happen again and again before we manage to repair a lot of damage people have done, often with the best intentions.

[Mothdust]

4. it was reagan who closed them

And turned poor people with mental illnesses out onto the streets to starve as diseased homeless wretched beggars.

[former-republican]

7. I just don't like the implication that someone who has a mental

illness is to be classified as criminally insane because they might do something.



Huge difference

[newfie11]

33. Yes it was

And I was horrified as to what would happen to these folks. Many had no where to go and ended up on the street. I was living in Washington DC at the time and the homeless in the street seemed to increase greatly. No one to see if they got food or Meds. I never saw anyone dangerous but they all needed a warm bed, food, and safety from elements and other predictors on the streets.

[cali]

5. that is not the answer.

the horrors of warehousing are not some distant land.

[Mojorabbit]

12. I did a nursing rotation in those warehouses in the 70's and it was horrible. nt

[99th_Monkey]

6. Yes, people with mental illness NEED PROFESSIONAL HELP

which is exactly why drastically increased funding for mental health treatment for those
in need is required now, as this gaping need is at the core of this tragedy.

My guess, sadly, is that most Congress peeps in DC are doing just the opposite, especially
the GOP, with their "fiscal cliff" rhetoric designed to beggar everyone except the wealthiest
2%.

[JCMach1]

8. The family had plenty of money and the mother had apparently ended her career to take care of her

son...

There is a lot more to this story we are not getting yet.

[JDPriestly]

15. I agree with you, JCMach 1.

Interesting that the father is an expert on corporate taxes. And for a GE subsidiary no less. Fits the picture for me.

[JCMach1]

17. Am I the only one, or is reminding anyone else of 'We Need to Talk About Kevin'

[jsr]

40. He did a great job:

G.E.’s Strategies Let It Avoid Taxes Altogether
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/business/economy/25tax.html?pagewanted=all

[LeftInTX]

24. I agree

They could afford home health care, therapists, outpatient etc. They had the money.

Something isn't right. Maybe the mom got frustrated with agencies, home health care etc. and tried to manage him herself.

[TexasBushwhacker]

9. I haven't read that he had any history of violence

nor did he have any criminal record of any kind. He was a gifted student in high school, but didn't interact much with other students. He may have had mild autism like Asperger's or a personality disorder or both. But his mother chose to have weapons in the house that he had access to, knowing he was troubled.

http://wtvr.com/2012/12/15/report-adam-lanza-suspected-shooter-of-26-had-form-of-autism/

My dad was bipolar and got psychotic sometimes if he was off his meds. It isn't easy to get someone committed, especially if they haven't done anything yet. That's just the way it is.

[Fire Walk With Me]

10. A simplistic, draconian solution to a complex problem.

:/

Here in CA, Ahnold slashed mental health care budgets 60% in a single shot, and it was not his only act against it. Those who lobby for guns, for big pharma, for for-profit prisons, for TSA/DHS/Patriot Act, for drones in our skies and audio recorders upon city buses, are happy to create the need for them through slashing care for those who might, not having sufficient care, go out and for whatever reason become involved in a crime. This also includes groups such as addicts and the homeless. (I've done copwatch on Skid Row downtown LA and laws are thick there against the homeless; citations and arrests for nonsense build up and are a funnel into the increasingly for-profit prison system. Note that sheriff Lee Baca is asking for $2 billion to build two new prisons.)

Truly, blame the republicans. Blame the very rich who seek to further enrich themselves at others' expense (and suffering). Lock up the mentally ill? I sir, am "mentally ill" and I hate guns, violence, and destruction. I am a sane voice for a kinder, more inclusive and harmonious solution. I've had my own difficulties but at the core this is who I am and what I wish to build. The mentally ill are the victims of multiple levels of profiteers. The system is sick with greed and must be changed.

And yes, some cities are installing microphones etc. on city buses to record conversations because someone has to push the concept that "all Americans are potential terrorists" in order to sell arms (and microphones/recording devices/airport scanners/drones). Shit's, fucked up. Shit's fucked up and BULLshit.

[Luminous Animal]

11. Um. Not due to anything PC. "PC" plan was to close the inhumand prison like asylums and

and a expand community based mental health care system.

Reagan liked the closing down part and did it with gusto. He and his admin were not so enthusiastic about expanding the social safety net.

[quinnox]

19. this shows how being PC to the extreme can

Lead to horrific outcomes. Time to bring back the politically incorrect insane asylums, for the safety of society.

[white_wolf]

25. Do you even know what those places were like?

A civilized society should never tolerate those kind of conditions in a hospital. I can't believe I'm hearing people on a progressive board advocate for the return of insane asylums. We need to create quality humane mental healthcare institution. To talk about bringing back insane asylums like they used to be is disgusting.

[quinnox]

31. well, on one hand we have a bunch of dead kids, and on the other

Insane asylums to lock up and keep society safe from these lunatics. When I consider this, I choose the asylums. I don't want more crazed killings like this. Maybe the asylums can be improved as well in their conditions. I never said they had to be brought back as bad as some of them were in terms of living conditions. The important thing is to keep these crazies away from people so they can't hurt anyone.

[cali]

34. your take is beyond sickening. You don't seem to have a fucking clue

as to how many innocents were murdered in those cess pools. They far outnumber those killed yesterday.. Grab a fucking clue and stop demonizing the mentally ill.

[Michigan Alum]

13. There is very little locking people up anymore unless it's in prison or jail. There are a few state

Hospitals but there is a long waiting list and it is only reserved for people who are in very, very, very bad shape who are either not helped by medication or refuse to take it. What most likely would happen is that anyone suicidal or homicidal is pumped full of meds then pushed out the door after at most 72 hours. I also agree with the person above who says that most people with a mental illness are NOT dangerous. I worked with the population for over 7 years and I have found that 99.9 % are more likely to become victims of crime rather than the other way around.

[quinnox]

18. this incident shows that should change

Time to bring back insane asylums and stop being so damn politically correct.

[Fire Walk With Me]

20. "Do what I say or else". Very democratic.

Please carefully read my reply a few posts above.

[quinnox]

22. I read your post

And that has nothing to do with my view. I'm talking about folks who are so disturbed that they are a danger to others, and not garden variety mental illness.

[Fire Walk With Me]

27. Mental illness is more complex than that, especially when compounded with negative circumstances

plus a lack of any support systems. And I am not by any means excusing him for what he's done.

Thank you for reading my post and for replying, but I'm not certain that this person previously displayed such adequate characteristics as justifies the permanent deprivation of their freedom and self-determination. This is a slippery slope and I encourage both caution and deep education prior to picking up torches and pitchforks or installing one's self as judge and jury. Asylums and psych wards are horrors. Make no mistake and have no illusions. That's all...there are two sides to this regardless of the tragedy involved.

Edit: Am I to understand that his mother kept assault weaponry in the house and that is where he acquired it? That is beyond irresponsible on her part. Ludicrous... (I honestly don't want to delve into this story as it's too awful).

[LisaL]

14. I've not seen one exmple of him being violent prior to this.

What would he be locked up for?

[quinnox]

16. for being disturbed

And a danger to himself and others. Ya know, they used to commit people like this, including kids, and maybe they knew what they were doing after all back then.

[Fire Walk With Me]

21. I invite you to spend a month in a psych ward or institution. You may find it would change your

position on this issue. "Walk a mile in their shoes before you judge..." :/

[white_wolf]

28. Seriously. Even the current ones are closer to prisons than hospitals.

And the poster you are replying to wants to bring back old insane asylums. Maybe he would feel safer if we chained the mentally ill to the walls like they used to. Disgusting.

[former-republican]

23. I'm astonished you are thinking like this for

people with a mental illness.

[LisaL]

26. Why don't you give some examples of how anyone would know he

was a danger to himself and others before this?

[quinnox]

29. its all over the news

Everyone is saying they aren't even surprised this guy did it, that he was a ticking time bomb and was severely disturbed ever since he was 5 years old.

[LisaL]

30. Without providing a single example of what was disturbing about thim.

Please.

[cali]

35. and what if, as it seems, he had no dangerous verbalization or acts

and no, genius, they sure as fuck did not know what they were doing back then. duh.

[pnwmom]

38. How did they know he posed a danger to others? I read that he was "well-behaved."

http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/sandy-hook-elementary-bus-driver-adam-lanza-well-behaved-1.4335428

Among the passengers on the school bus that Marsha Moskowitz drove to and from the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., for 12 years were Ryan and Adam Lanza. She knew them as the mild-mannered boys of her neighbor Nancy Lanza.

"She raised really nice boys, well-behaved," said Moskowitz, 56, who has lived in the idyllic community since 1987.

SNIP

Sandeep Kapur, who lives two doors down from the Lanza family, said he did not know them and was unaware of any disturbances at their home in the three years he has lived there.

[AlexSatan]

39. If that is all it takes

Most of the US would be locked up.

What evidence was there he was a danger to himself or others?

If it is just because he is weird, most people formerly known as APSYs would be locked up.

[JohnnyLib2]

32. And if I find your idea disturbing, disturbed and a danger to others........?

[TomClash]

36. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

The State has no right to incarcerate the innocent. Preventive detention is fascist.

[pnwmom]

37. As far as I know, he'd never previously committed a crime.

You can't lock up people based solely on what they might do. You have to prove they're an actual threat to themselves or others. And no one seemed to have a clue.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/14/justice/connecticut-shooting-suspect-profile/
Alex Israel was in the same class at Newtown High School with Adam Lanza, who lived a few houses down from her.

"You could definitely tell he was a genius," Israel told CNN, adding she hadn't talked with him since middle school. "He was really quiet, he kept to himself."

SNIP

A former classmate told CNN affiliate WCBS that Lanza "was just a kid" -- not a troublemaker, not anti-social, not suggesting in any way that he could erupt like this.

[ohheckyeah]

41. I had a friend whose sister died under

mysterious circumstances in a state mental institution. We never found out what happened but she had a big bruise on her head. Her "crime" was she was depressed.

Mental institutions were horrific in many cases. We do need mental health care but not institutions as they used to exist.