Wednesday, March 25, 2020

The Life of Andrea Pia Yates free essay sample

She was consequently committed by the court to the North Texas State Hospital, Typically, a woman has a believably tragic story to go along with her deed, although some like Mary Beth Tinning, Susan Smith, and Marie Noe turned out to have killed for reasons other than their initial excuses. Thus, excuses become suspicious. And sometimes an act is so overwhelming that no mental condition seems to count as a reasonable explanation. However, although juries tend to punish the killing of strangers harshly, they often are more lenient with mothers as it is evident in this particular case. It appears that juries have a difficult time in America sending a mother to lethal injection or the electric chair. While postpartum depression occurs in up to twenty percent of women who have children, psychotic manifestations are much rarer, and thus much less understood. Only one in five hundred births result in the mothers postpartum psychosis, says forensic psychiatrist Michael Welner (Ramsland). We will write a custom essay sample on The Life of Andrea Pia Yates or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page A psychiatric examination was ordered for Andrea. The psychiatrist asked Andrea what she thought would happen to the children now. She indicated that she believed God would take them up. Â   He reversed the question and asked what might have happened if she had not taken their lives. Andrea said, I guess they would have continued stumbling, which meant, They would have gone to hell. The doctors testifying for Yates made the claim. She did what she thought was right in the world she perceived through her psychotic eyes at the time, said psychiatrist Phillip Resnick. In other words, even if she seemed to understand the difference between right and wrong, she did not know what she was doing (Ramsland). Although the prosecutors did not dispute the fact that Yates was mentally ill, they did argue that she knew her actions were wrong. How these two sides lined up on different poles of interpretation illustrates the great divide between the concepts of mental illness and legal insanity in the U. S. This case made it clear that its time for courts to better address the gap. Yates defense team proved her history of delusional depression, use of anti-psychotic drugs, and suicide attempts, and theres documentation that postpartum mood swings can sometimes evoke psychosis. Yet no matter how many doctors testified to Yates mental decline, the legal issue hinged on only her mental state at the time of the offense. As Yates drowned her children one by one, even chasing down the seven-year-old to drag him to the tub, did she really have any awareness that what she was doing was wrong? In her cell when Yates was interviewed by one of the rebuttal psychiatrist, Andrea admitted that it had been a bad decision to kill the children, and said, I shouldnt have done it. Â   She thought the devil had left after she committed the crime. He destroys and then leaves. Since she was claiming that she did indeed know that it was wrong, the attorneys needed experts who could prove that her manner of processing this information was in itself rooted in psychosis. Not only did they have to meet one of the most restrictive standards in the country for insanity, they had to educate the jury in ideas about mental illness that were rife among the public with stereotypes and m isperception and to help them get beyond the literal interpretation of right and wrong. During Yates trial, psychiatrist Park Dietz who was never Yates psychiatrist testified that she was not mentally ill, but had cleverly patterned her childrens killings after an episode of Law and Order, where a woman drowned her children but was found not guilty by reason of insanity. There was just one problem with Dietz testimony: Law and Order had never filmed a storyline even vaguely like the episode Dietz described. On the basis of Dietz misleading testimony, Yates was granted a re-trial in 2006. She was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and transferred from prison (where she had spent four years) to a state mental hospital for treatment. Betsy Schwartz, executive director of the Mental Health Association of Greater Houston, said the verdict brought justice to a woman whose severe mental illness was never in question. Dietz, the psychiatrist who said his false testimony was an honest mistake, was never indicted for perjury (Ramsland). Conclusively, it is evident that Andrea’s mental illness journey began shortly after the birth of her first born child. Andrea began to have violent visions: she saw someone being stabbed. She thought she heard Satan speak to her. However, she and her husband had idealistic, Bible-inspired notions about family and motherhood, so she kept her tormenting secrets to herself. She didnt realize how much mental illness there was in her own family, from depression to bipolar disorder—which can contribute to postpartum psychosis.

Friday, March 6, 2020

2016 BSL Cranberry Classic Essays - Swimming, Sports, Leisure

2016 BSL Cranberry Classic Essays - Swimming, Sports, Leisure 2016 BSL Cranberry Classic Invitational Swim Meet November 4-6 , 2016 Birmingham Crossplex Birmingham Swim League " Cranberry Classic Invitational " Birmingham CrossPlex November 4-6 , 2016 SANCTIONED BY:This meet will be conducted under the auspices of Southeastern Swimming, Inc. of USA Swimming. USA Swimming technical rules and regulations will be followed with the exception of items specifically addressed in the meet information Sanctioned by Southeastern Swimming, Inc. Held under the sanction of USA Swimming and Southeastern Swimming, Inc. Sanction No. 16SEBSL11-4, Time Trial Sanction No. 16SEBSL11-4TT HOSTED BY:Birmingham Swim League (www.birminghamswimleague.org) 1025 Montgomery Hwy Suite 106 Birmingham, Al 35216 205-823-5512 (office) LOCATION:Birmingham CrossPlex (www.birminghamcrossplex.com) 2337 Bessemer Road Birmingham, AL 35208 205-279-8900 FACILITIES:Indoor 20 lane, 25 yard or 10 lane, 50 meter pool with non-turbulent lane lines, Colorado timing system and video scoreboard. The competition course has been certified in accordance with 104.2.2C(4). The water depth is a minimum of 8 feet to 16 feet. Warm-up/warm-down lanes available at all times. RULES:Current United States Swimming rules will govern the conduct of the meet. Southeastern Swimming safety guidelines and warm up procedures will be in effect. The use of audio or visual recording devices, including a cell phone, is not permitted in changing areas, rest rooms, locker rooms, or from behind the starting blocks. Deck changing into or out of swimsuits other than in locker rooms or rest rooms is prohibited. In the interest of safety and accident prevention, coaches and swimmers are asked to observe all posted pool rules and facility rules referred to in this meet information and to conduct themselves in a safe and prudent manner. Birmingham Swim League will not accept responsibility for anyone who climbs to an unsafe height for any reason. OFFICIALS:Meet Director:Kristie Muir ([emailprotected]) Meet Referee:Gwen McKenzie ([emailprotected]) Admin Referee:Donna Williamson ([emailprotected]) Officials and apprentices from visiting teams are welcome and appreciated. Please contact Gwen McKenzie ([emailprotected]) with session(s) you are available to work. Dress in khaki pants/shorts/skirts, white shirts and white shoes. Please fill out information on "Team Information" page to be returned with entries. Officials must be members of USA Swimming and must present evidence of certification as required by Southeastern Swimming. Should there be any questions, meet officials will recognize only coaches or their designated representatives. Officials' meeting will take place in the hospitality room 1 hour before each session. Timers' meeting will take place at Clerk of Course 30 minutes before each session. ELIGIBILITY:All swimmers must be 2016-2017 USA Swimming Registered athletes. USA registration number must be listed on the entry form. No entry will be accepted without current registration numbers. There will be no on-deck USA Swimming membership registration. Coaches and officials must present evidence of certification as required by Southeastern Swimming. A swimmer's age on the first day of the meet will determine his or her age for the entire meet. Swimmers must be 11 years old to enter "Senior" events. Any swimmer entered in the meet must be certified by a USA Swimming member coach as being proficient in performing a racing start or must start each race from within the water. When unaccompanied by a member-coach, it is the responsibility of the swimmer or the swimmer's legal guardian to ensure compliance with this requirement. STARTING TIMES:Warm-upCompetition Friday PM:4:00 PM5:00 PM Saturday AM:7:20 AM; 7:50 AM8:30 AM Saturday PM:Not before 12:30 PMNot before 1:40 PM Sunday AM:7:20 AM; 7:50 AM8:30 AM Sunday PM:Not before 12:30 PMNot before 1:40 PM Sessions (AM and PM) and/or events may be combined if necessary, depending on the number of entrants. If sessions are combined the events will also be re-numbered. Teams will be notified by telephone and/or email by Wednesday, November 4th, if this should occur, so please fill out ALL information on the TEAM INFORMATION page and turn that in with your entries by the deadline. WARM-UPS:Morning sessions will have one or two warm-ups depending on entries. Depending on size of meet, there may be designated sprint lanes at end of each morning warm-up. Afternoon sessions will be OPEN warm-ups with sprint and pace lanes to be designated the last 25 minutes at the discretion of the Meet Referee. Warm-up Lane assignments will be posted on www.birminghamswimleague.org and will be in