Should veterens with PTSD be exempt from the death penalty?

     Should veterens with PTSD be exempt from the death penalty?

     Would you say that all murders have some sort of mental illness, which then excuses them from certain crimes? In “Should Veterans with PTSD Be Exempt from the Death Penalty” by Iulia Filip, Lulia explains how in one case a man by the name of Andrew Brannan was involved with a traffic stop for speeding in 1998. When pulled over Andrew proceeded to get out of his car, use profanities and shot the deputy nine times. This became the first death sentence carried out in 2015.

       Andrew Brannan was diagnosed with PTSD which was caused from his service in Vietnam as well as being Bipolar that was later on diagnosed. As explained in the article “PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) is a severe mental disorder that can affect intellectual and adaptive functioning, trigger flashbacks to traumatic events, and impair one’s judgment”. There is also a statistic that shows those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan were 20 percent likely to be diagnosed with PTSD and those who served in Vietnam are 30 percent likely to be diagnosed with PTSD. This ends up being a significant number of individuals with this diagnosis. However it is said that majority of these veterans diagnosed with PTSD are not in fact violent.

       Andrew Brannan, prior to this conviction, was diagnosed with this disorder and had been hospitalized on several occasions. He was accepted through disability for his mental status due to the time he spent in Vietnam. Brannan was diagnosed with having bipolar disorder. Years pasted and he became very sheltered from the world and only talked to other vets, he even lived in a tight quarters that reminded him of a war zone bunker. He was beginning to let the disorders take over his life and control him with out intensentions of doing so Brannan was making his disorder worse.

               Brannan’s story is just one of many. In 2009 an Iraq veteran was found guilty for murder and was tried as legally insane. Brannan did not receive the death penalty he did however received 25 years in maximum security. He was then release in 2014 after mental analysis determined him to no longer have PTSD. In another case In 2009 John Darrell Thuesen killed his brother and girlfriend and now is on death row and Eddie Routh is facing the death penalty for murdering a Navy Seal sniper, he is currently trying to plead insanity. These are just some documented cases with all different outcomes. Not ever PTSD related convicted has resulted in the death penalty.

               As said several times throughout this article “PTSD as an insanity defense in a murder case is hard to use because the person knows the difference between right and wrong” “They are not delusional or psychotic. For example, they do not believe they have killed a Martian instead of a human” The author believes that until there is a complete understanding of PTSD and what can truly come of this disorder then we should not be so quick to judge and execute. In some cases there is more behind a crime then a motive, the individuals state of mind can be compromised when mental disability is at a higher risk.     

      I can see why the author would think that the death penalty should not be used on any one suffering PTSD. An individual suffering from PTSD is considered to have some sort of mental illness. Can he be 100 percent accountable for his actions or is this the illness that took over at that given time. Any other person who has been tried for murder and declared mental ill has been sent to a mental institute or life in prison. Why would someone diagnoses with PTSD be any different.

               Looking more into this article the deputy shot by Brannan was a 22 year old man who was married with a child and one child soon to come. When this deputy went on duty he understands that his life is always on the line and that he must always be 100 percent cautious. We do not know the entire story to this, Did the deputy try to reason with the Brannon, was Brannon going to do this regardless who pulled him over or could this have been handled differently.  We will never know the answers to those questions.

               I feel that in this article the author truly believes that PTSD should be accountable for ones actions when it comes to violence or even murder if they are a veteran. This can be very true in most cases. To someone who has had to witness and act first hand in battle, no one can fully understand what they went through. No one can completely relate to what that person may or may not have had to do to survive. So who’s place is it to say that they are not in some way mentally insane or in some way mentally unstable. Isn’t every murderer in some way mentally unstable, would a perfectly sane person commit such a heinous crime?

               In conclusion when looking at both views it is hard to decide who is right. I myself 

 

cannot say killing that man was in the right only because Brannon was diagnosed with PTSD 

and on the other hand I can’t say the death penalty was just cause for Brannon taking that 

 

young man’s life. In the world we live in today there have been worse crimes committed 

 

without that severe of penalty as Brannon received. We need to be very cautious and very 

 

educated on the issue at hand when ending someone’s life in this manner.  We as people 

 

have lost this coping skill, we go directly to killing, accusing or abuse in one form or 

 

another. Our world is all around becoming more and more determined to fight against each

 

 other and this is only getting worse.