Should you be exempt from capital punishment if you have a mental illness? What if you have post-traumatic stress disorder from defending our country? According to a recent article, a Georgia veteran with PTSD has now been the first person executed in the US in 2015. I never think that capital punishment is okay, never have and probably never will. But especially, to someone who suffered from a mental illness acquired from serving our country.
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a horrible mental disorder, and those who suffer from is experience terrifying and often unwanted flashbacks and dreams from their time in war. Veterans that serve our country already put their lives on the line to protect our rights, and then they often don't return the same as when they left, losing limbs, skin, and mental sanity. The things that they see and experience are worse than any of us could ever imagine. That is when they get PSTD. I could never handle what they do, or do what they do.
I believe that they should get more respect. People just don't give them the same respect that they used to. It is something that is really upsetting to me. I am related to many people that have served, including my father, and I look up to him and respect him more than anyone else in the world. He worked with intelligence so fortunately, he came back unharmed, most aren't that lucky. I just have a strong believe that we should have a strong respect to ANYONE who serves our country. Men or women, black or white, young or old. Everyone.
This means that even though the man in the article, Andrew Brannan, killed a police officer, I don't believe that capital punishment was in order. That is not to say that he should be let off the hook because he is a vet with a mental health disorder. I think that he should have gotten at least 50 years to life in jail. Or, depending on how severe his disorder was, mental health therapy. I do not know much about his condition, all I know is that in my opinion, anyone willing to serve and protect our country should be exempt from execution. I believe execution is wrong in all cases. I believe in life in jail. But when we execute someone who fought for our country and was mentally ill because of it, what is that saying? It is taking away all respect for our Veterans. I believe that capital punishment is a big deal and it should be looked at and examined extremely closely before decisions are made. And I believe that each case should be looked at individually. Overall, I just believe that it was wrong to execute someone who served for our country.
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