# Autistic teen, Marines, and Bad Conduct - more sad than outraged **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 21, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/autistic-teen-marines-and-bad-conduct-more-sad-than-outraged/503756 "2009-07-21T17:54:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/autistic-teen-marines-and-bad-conduct-more-sad-than-outraged/503756/21 "2009-07-23T17:06:47Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > Actually, it is. Or at least it’s on the spectrum. > > Aspies commonly exhibit classic “autistic” symptoms, with the key difference being there is no delay in speech development. Since this guy was functional enough to actually join the armed forces, I’d wager that he’s more Asperger’s than regular autism. I concur that Asperger’s is on the spectrum. Our son is alternately labelled Asperger’s or High Functioning Autism depending on which way the wind is blowing and what the person writing it down feels like putting… doesn’t much affect anything. My perception of Aspies is it’s more “just” social interaction / tone of voice / lack of flexibility issues, while HFA is includes all that and more of the shutdown / freakout / irrational fears (dunno if those differences are “textbook” or not… I should look up what the official differences are). My own kid would be more of the HFA, by my definition. From what the additional websites suggest, the fellow in question was NOT functional enough to pass for normal, however, except to someone who was hungry to make goals. Therefore, to me, he shouldn’t have been in the Marines, and the penalties for kiddie porn should have been meted out by the civilian courts; the year in the stockade, and thread of Dishonorable, etc. shouldn’t even be on the table. FWIW, civilian penalties for kiddie porn can be pretty bad, and I make no excuses for his possession of such material and would have absolutely zero qualms about his being punished appropriately. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/autistic-teen-marines-and-bad-conduct-more-sad-than-outraged/503756/22 "2009-07-23T18:07:55Z")
**Mamma Zappa** , I am one of the rare non-lawyer SDMB members. Is there not an argument that the accused (who is autistic) cannot legally be tried? Would such an individual be unable to realise that they are doing something illegal/wrong? (Kinda like the insanity defense, or when someone is judged to be unfit to make legally binding decisions for themselves.) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/autistic-teen-marines-and-bad-conduct-more-sad-than-outraged/503756/23 "2009-07-23T18:09:41Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > Is there not an argument that the accused (who is autistic) cannot legally be tried? Would such an individual be unable to realise that they are doing something illegal/wrong? (Kinda like the insanity defense, or when someone is judged to be unfit to make legally binding decisions for themselves.) There’s always an argument. Whether or not it flies depends on how severe the condition is. A high functioning autistic would be unlikely to be adjudged unfit/incompetent to stand trial. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/autistic-teen-marines-and-bad-conduct-more-sad-than-outraged/503756/24 "2009-07-23T18:27:33Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > **Mamma Zappa** , I am one of the rare non-lawyer SDMB members. > > Is there not an argument that the accused (who is autistic) cannot legally be tried? Would such an individual be unable to realise that they are doing something illegal/wrong? (Kinda like the insanity defense, or when someone is judged to be unfit to make legally binding decisions for themselves.) Plenty of mentally-retarded people have stood trial - the burden of proof is on the lawyers to make a case that the person is so impaired that he could not have known that what he was doing was wrong. At least I think that’s how it works (I’m not a lawyer either). I suspect his impairment is not so profound that he could be proven legally incompetent to stand trial. I believe Fry’s lawyer did try to argue that the enlistment was null due to the circumstances, so the military had no right to try him in a military court, desertion didn’t apply, etc., but I gather that got shot down. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/autistic-teen-marines-and-bad-conduct-more-sad-than-outraged/503756/25 "2009-07-24T15:00:16Z")
Ok, thanks for the reply. I was confused by the apparent contridiction in some posts. That is, the position I found confusing: The gent was not (mentally) functional enough to be in the Marines, but still functional enough to be prosecuted for owning child porn. Heh. I guess I get caught up in a binary situation. (Either wholely fit, or NOT wholely fit.) But there is a lot of shades of grey, then. Right? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/autistic-teen-marines-and-bad-conduct-more-sad-than-outraged/503756.md?page=1)