Letters

[摘要] The excellent, thought-provoking editorial by Manish Fozdar discusses the quandary of the court in determining whether a person with dementia can form “a rational understanding of the reasons for his death sentence” (Ref. 1, p 151). The premise is that it is not punishment to kill someone unless they know why. But why does that matter? Will the dead person have learned his lesson if he understands why he is being killed? Will he suffer more or less if he knows his death is in retribution or for vengeance? Is he being killed to deter others from crime, or to suffer torture equivalent to that which he may have inflicted? To opine whether a person understands why he is facing the death penalty, as Dr. Fozdar concludes, does not depend on a diagnosis from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) or a brain image, but on the same sort of reasoning that goes into determining whether one is competent to make a will or get married. Arguments about free will versus determinism make little sense when applied to delusional or delirious patients.

[学科分类] 儿科学

[关键词] death penalty;competence;brain imaging;dementia;diagnosis