So Anders Breivik, the white “not religious but Christian” supremacist who murdered 77 white non-Muslims, one as young as 14, in cold blood, out of a fear of Islamization, has been deemed sane by a court in Norway.
Granted, a close call, but so far so good for the court. Evil is not always crazy.
Mark Stephens, a partner at law firm Finers Stephens Innocent, told CNN Friday: “The general public will think only a madman can commit these offenses, but in law madness is defined very narrowly. Basically it requires a doctor to come to court and say this person has a definable medical illness — in this case the prosecution said he was a paranoid schizophrenic, and that can be treated with drugs and behavioral therapy.
“If, however, he had a personality disorder or was just … motivated, as in this case, by a misguided political belief that this was the only way to stop the Islamization, as he would have it, of his nation, then in those circumstances he has be found guilty because he understood what he was doing was wrong.”
Breivik’s rampage, the worst atrocity on Norwegian soil since World War II, prompted much soul-searching.
With that said, the same court that found Breivik responsible for his crimes sentenced him to 21 years of “containment,” of which, he must serve only ten.
Which would make the penalty for taking a Norwegian life less than eight weeks in a prison suite (see post below about Breivik’s new digs).
Michael Vick served 23 months for dog fighting. I wonder what the penalty for that offense is in Norway.
mike and brandy
August 24, 2012 at 10:12 AM
so, if he was upset at the ‘multiculturization’ of Norway and the integration of Islamic Fundamentalists…. why did he murder ‘white non’muslims’? something strange here. (not that i support or endorse or even condone the killing of non-white muslims either)
-mike
Anthony Sacramone
August 24, 2012 at 10:15 AM
Yes, the point of my phrasing it the way I did was that it would have been easy to dismiss him as 33 varieties of crazy, and so deem him not culpable for his actions. I’m glad the court didn’t. I’m also glad he didn’t add Muslims to his body count (or, for that matter, inflict this carnage only on Muslims — better he had fallen into an open manhole first thing that morning). I’m only sorry he didn’t get 2,547 years of “containment,” even in his suite.
Lars Walker
August 24, 2012 at 10:21 AM
Well, he shot up a gathering of the children of Norwegian leftists, whom he blames for bringing the Muslims in. There’s a certain depraved logic there. I’m frankly surprised they found him sane, but frustrated about the sentence.
As I understand it, although the limit for any sentence in Norway is 21 years, the sentence can be repeated indefinitely if the criminal is judged a danger to the public. That would have been easier to do if he had been found insane. So what we gained in moral high ground we lost in practical benefit.
Oh Norway. Sometimes I despair.
More than sometimes.