i can't believe that andrea yates was formally sentenced to life in prison for drowning her 5 children, “…a verdict that jury members said was easy to reach.” what IS it with texan justice? i cannot imagine this verdict resulting anywhere on the east or west coasts. maybe some of my friends from texas (who are extremely reasonable and intelligent people in my book) can explain to me what happened here. i mean, yes, she drowned her children. but this woman is clearly mentally ill. doesn't anyone on the jury have any idea what it is like to be mentally ill? do they understand that yates was continually in some sort of treatment until the system completely failed her? i don't know which is more delusional – andrea yates or the justice system in texas. to put this woman behind bars for the next 40 years is doing no one any good. except, perhaps, randy yates.

this woman clearly had a huge burden placed on her by her controlling, bible-thumping husband, randy. from what i have read, it doesn't seem to me that he helped her out much. i cannot imagine what it must be like to homeschool and care for 5 children. i cannot imagine what it is like to ride through the country in a winnebago, following G-d's alleged will. but i can imagine what it is like to look after one child, and believe me, it is no cakewalk. to carry the responsibility for 5 children on your own is something i would never wish on any individual. i wonder if her husband sees any change in his lifestyle now with his wife and children gone, other than there is more money in his pocket and he is in demand on the talk-show circuit. something is so very, very wrong here.