Canadian Bus Cannibal Ruled Insane

CNN reports on the ruling in Canada that Vince Weiguang Li is not criminally responsible because he is mentally ill. Li was the man charged in the beheading death of his seatmate on a Greyhound Canada bus last summer, which we talked about here and here.

This ruling comes as no surprise to me. Only the most severe opponents of considering extenuating circumstances in criminal judgments, those who demand personal accountability for everyone's actions, could have a problem with this. Even the Prosecutor agrees.

"This was justice because the correct conclusion was reached," prosecutor Joyce Dalmyn said, according to CBC. "Mr. Li is a schizophrenic. Mr. Li had a severe mental disease. Mr. Li, in my opinion and in the opinion of the psychiatrists, had no idea what he was doing was wrong."

Naturally, the Canadian Mental Health Association agrees with the Prosecutor.

"Mr. Li is also a victim here," said Ruth Ann Craig of the Canadian Mental Health Association, according to CBC. "What's going to happen to Mr. Li is not a cakewalk."

He will be housed in a locked psychiatric ward, Craig said, while he undergoes assessment and treatment to determine whether he is a risk to himself or society.

Why do people have a problem with this? Is it the use of the word "victim" in reference to the offender? Do people think we somehow disrespect the real victim by recognizing that the criminal is also one? Or is it that assessment business? Is it the fact that he may be released from the mental hospital sooner than he would from a prison? I really don't see why that should be the case. Wouldn't a panel of psychiatrists in the State mental hospital be able to come to the same conclusions about Charles Manson that his Parole Board does each time they meet, as an example?

The point is, mentally ill people belong in hospitals not prisons. The decisions pertaining to the length of stay are another matter altogether, in some cases to be determined later.

What's your opinion? Would you rather see Mr. Li spend the rest of his life in prison? Do you think the Canadians are any better at handling this than we are in the States?

I was fascinated again reading that none of the other 34 passengers did anything to stop this. What do you think about that? Most men are reluctant to admit that when faced with a situation that cries out for intervention, they might hesitate, or cower. I'm able to admit that, if I had been one of the other passengers, and if I had seen this knife-wielding maniac attack his seatmate, I honestly don't know for sure what my reaction would have been. Probably I would have been with the crowd, slinking away in fear and shock and regretting it later. What about you?

Is this why people support carrying guns? Is this an example of how people need to be armed in order to overcome their fears and do the right thing? Or perhaps the typical concealed-carry guy is not the type who would slink away. Perhaps the guys who support guns are already able to overcome these fears, even without those gun. What do you think?

Please feel free to leave a comment.

The Cananian Bus Cannibal - Remember Him?

A couple months ago I posted about Vince Weiguang Li, the Cananian bus cannibal. You can read the original post here on Wordpress. Although it still gets hits, a few every day in fact, after two months a comment came in from Mother. Here it is:

cannibal did not kill with a gun. he killed with a knife. even if that tool was intended for other uses. all here have very good opinions. do not take what i write next personally as i am not applying it to any one here. i am simply reminded of some observations i have made in the past and given much thought to. i would like to say this:compassion is a great and noble gift. please make sure that you are not waving it around like a flag to show how enlightened and politically correct you are while spending it all on killers who lack that very thing you hold dear, ie. compassion. i have noticed a tendency from people who have great feeling for the criminals among us do not usually hold those sentiments for the victims and other people these crimes impact. in fact, many times those espousing compassion will have a lot of detail of the criminal’s names and vital statistics, but will not know much about the victims’. the criminals names will be mentioned ad nauseum during the compassion speeches but the victim’s may only be mentioned at the insistence of other’s. this is a grave disservice. i have also noticed (this was not done here in any of the comments) that compassion is not extended to an opposing view of the stated purveyor of that grace. how many times have we all seen a bleeding heart liberal protect a violent sociopath to the public, and at the same time viciously attack any one who dares to question the judgement of that advocate? you will hear ‘do not judge’ no ‘casting the first stone’ until the defender is questioned. then those convenient parables and contextually inaccurate phrases go out the window. anyone witnessed what i have?as applied to these comments, you are all giving this horrendous, violent trend in our society great thought. one thing, though. that poor canadian boy was not safely in a university level philosophy course able to banter and discourse in an enlightened, well-fed intellectual forum. he was dealing with a real life psychopath and all the inherent danger that goes with it. he was helplessly asleep and much smaller than the cannibal. reality bites not just in theory. all of the sane and safe rationalizations on criminality, spectrum, psychoses and reaction/remedies for the good of the hegemenical ladder fly out the window when you are walking in the dust outside of the barrier of walls and locked doors. unfortunately, i know this up front and personal. born and raised in a violent dark hole with 2 very mentally ill individuals. no poor me, that is not what i am saying. i love life. i am able though to tell you about impact, effect and personal responsibility from a 1st hand experiential perspective. along with rights and compassion comes responsibility. and that is true of the criminals and society in their support and reactions to the victims.this was a ramble of my OHP. forgive misapplied generalizations and run on paragraphs. i am tired. i will leave with this thought. this is for america. do not kick the bodies of the victims laying on the floor as you step over them in your self aggrandizing dash to spout to the world how compassionate you are toward the aggressors. the victims just might be alive to feel that final kick to their rights and dignity.

Some of these are familiar arguments. How do you feel about them? I responded in the comments.