Second Chances and Murder.

If one commits murder, should they ever be given a second chance at life?

Honestly, yes and no. Over half of all inmates incarcerated have some sort of mental illness. The degrees range from very severe to less severe. Our jails are mental institutions. Plain and simple. Not everyone who kills, kills because they're an evil person who deserves to die. Some kill, because of a voice in their head telling them to kill, or because they're in a bad situation (i.e. abusive relationships). That being said, the death penalty exists for a reason. There are evil people in this world who definitely deserve to die for the pain and hell they have caused while existing in this world.

I know what voices in someone's head sound like. I know the pain and torture they can cause. I have lived with those voices. I listened to those voices. Thankfully for me and my case, the voices weren't telling me to kill. The voices were just repeating negative statements that people around me made. The voices made me lose my hope for living. The voices made me lose my mind, literally. The voices caused me to inflict pain on myself. You can't control the voices. Even for a second. You can't just say "Stop!" and *poof* they go away. It doesn't work like that. It never has. That being said, I am surrounded by a good support system. My mother got me help. My mother got me therapy to deal with the voices and medicine to stop them for good. That being said, not everyone has that support system. Not everyone has medical insurance. Not everyone can just get help. The people who don't get the help they need to control those voices are the ones who end up as inmates. Sometimes, killing someone is a cry for help. Sometimes, killing someone is something that isn't just a choice.

The world isn't as black and white as we want it to be. Not everyone who kills is Charles Manson. Not everyone who kills does it for the power or the high. Yes, some do. Those people don't deserve a second chance. Those people don't deserve to breathe oxygen another day. They along with Osama Bin Laden deserve to burn in Hell for eternity...But, the ones who kill because of the voices in their head and because they're mentally ill deserve help. They deserve to be medicated and locked up in a mental institution, not prison. While the ones who kill because of the bad situation they're in deserve therapy.

Recently, an 18-year-old boy by the name of Joe Estrada was arrested and charged with the murder of Los Barrios' owner Viola Barrios. The Barrios family have since forgiven Joe publicly and seemingly privately. In hearing Joe talk to reporters as the police whisked him away in handcuffs, I got the sense something mentally was off. I didn't get the feeling he was the next Charles Manson in training. The San Antonio District Attorney Susan Reed was quoted as saying shortly after the arrest, "As of right now, I'd like to go string this guy up myself." Frankly, I don't agree. Yes, he should be in jail. Yes, he should pay his "debt" to society. But, what is hanging the guy going to do? What is giving him the death penalty going to do? He's 18 and showing signs of having a mental illness! Giving the death penalty doesn't fix that. He needs HELP! He doesn't need someone hanging him by a string.

I'm not codoning murder. Murder is NEVER okay. That being said, I truly believe everyone has a story and sometimes that story just isn't what it appears to be on the outside. You shouldn't judge someone based on their past and things they've done. I just can't and won't let myself believe that everyone kills because they're an evil person. Some do, but some don't. The ones who kill because they're ill (or in bad situations like abusive relationships) are the ones that should be given some sort of help and second chance. If someone, anyone, is convicted of murdering someone shouldn't be released into society, but don't they deserve a safer place to get help than prison? Isn't that what mental hospitals are for?

Call me naive, but not everyone is bad. Not everyone is evil. Some people really do kill because they're ill or in a bad situation. Not everyone who kills is the next Charles Manson of the world or Osama Bin Laden. Don't judge someone because they've been convicted of a crime. Sit down, learn their stories, and then base a conclusion off of that. Judging people without proper information is what cause wars, just ask George Bush.