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I think roderick brings up a good point. How culpable is Rusty Yates himself? Taking someone off of Haldol without a doctor's knowledge or advice is dangerous, dangerous business--it is, if I'm not mistaken, a pretty hefty anti-psychotic. Add to that the knowledge that she would suffer post-partum psychosis...I think he's at least guilty of some form of manslaughter (willingly putting another's life in danger).
As for Yates herself, if she truly is psychotic, even now she needs mental health care that a prison is not going to provide. She is not going to ever leave institutional care (whether it be in prison or a mental institution again) so for her own sake society ought to think about placing her in a mental institution instead of prison. Rehabilitation isn't the issue--adequate care is. In a Texan prison, Andrea Yates would be nothing but a number. The truly mentally ill deserve better care than that.
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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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