# Mother puts baby in dryer. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 7, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-baby-in-dryer/334511 "2005-12-07T15:57:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BabaBooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dfb087/32.png) [@BabaBooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BabaBooey)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-baby-in-dryer/334511/21 "2005-12-08T01:35:35Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > I’d consider an inability to empathize – to the point that one puts the child in a clothes dryer – to be a sign of mental illness. > There are some threads where Google Ads just really don’t belong. > washer & dryer repair, right now. Does decapitating your four year old sound insane? What about [hiding](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,177609,00.html) it in the woods afterwards? ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-baby-in-dryer/334511/22 "2005-12-08T02:34:04Z")
> [@SentientMeat](#): > > Well, if her actions _are_ the result of postnatal psychosis, then preventing her breeding will effectively be an instance of eugenics against the temporarily mentally ill. And, yes, it is just sick _by definition_. Eugenics, my ass! If I read the article correctly (and if my math skills are still up to scratch), this crazy bitch had a 1-year old…_and a three-month old_ !!! That barely gave her time for a coffee break before she got pregnant again! This is one baby-making machine that needs to be de-activated post haste! In fact, I think sterilization should be mandatory for any mother who commits a crime of this grievous magnitude against her own child. That is, if she manages to dodge the needle (which I sincerely hope she doesn’t). Just because you do something crazy doesn’t mean you are necessarily insane. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-baby-in-dryer/334511/23 "2005-12-08T02:37:10Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > The problem with that line of reasoning is that some crimes must then be so horrific that the commision of them automatically qualifies the perpetrator as insane: the more horrific the crime, the greater the degree of exculpation. That occured to me too. Maybe I should back off and say there’s a 99% chance she’s crazy. Test her and if she is insane, she gets committed and if not, she gets tried. Personally, I think it unlikely a sane person would do such a thing in hopes of exchanging barred windows for padded ones. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-baby-in-dryer/334511/24 "2005-12-08T02:46:58Z")
> [@want2know](#): > > In fact, I think sterilization should be mandatory for any mother who commits a crime of this grievous magnitude against her own child. Oklahoma’s Habitual Criminal Sterilization Act was [struck down](http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=316&invol=535) by the Supreme Court as violative of the 14th Amendment in 1942. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-baby-in-dryer/334511/25 "2005-12-08T02:55:06Z")
> [@SentientMeat](#): > > Postnatal depression is a debilitating condition. In around 1 in 1000 new mothers, extreme psychosis can result endangering both the mother, her children and the people around her. > > Civilisation does not execute the insane. Killing your own child is almost the _definition_ of “insane”: I genuinely struggle to believe that this person of sound mind coldly and deliberately put their 3 month old in a drier and called the police. So to be considered insane, and thus immune from criminal punishment, one just needs to make sure their crime is sufficiently heinous that no “sane” person would commit it? ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-baby-in-dryer/334511/26 "2005-12-08T02:59:00Z")
I don’t care if she has a mental illness, unless it can be demonstrated that she did not know the difference between right and wrong should be she excluded from prosecution. They determined that woman who drowned her four kids was off her rocker, but being off your rocker != acquittal in the United States. You have to demonstrate that you were **criminally** insane to the point that you did not know the difference between right and wrong. So, do you guys also give a pass to that guy that killed his baby because it was bothering him while he played EverQuest? Or the guy who put his baby in a microwave and fried it? Or is it only in the case of a woman killing (or maiming) a baby that we should automatically assume the person has to be insane? ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-baby-in-dryer/334511/27 "2005-12-08T03:15:01Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Maybe I should back off and say there’s a 99% chance she’s crazy. Based on what evidence? ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-baby-in-dryer/334511/28 "2005-12-08T03:26:35Z")
The point is that we don’t _know_ - and I suspect none of us is qualified to judge, especially on the basis of a short article - whether she’s mentally ill or not: she may well be, of course, but the assumption that all horrific crimes must by definition by committed by the mentally ill is a very dangerous one. Perhaps she’s just evil. ---
**Author:** ![EvilGhandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@EvilGhandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilGhandi)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-baby-in-dryer/334511/29 "2005-12-08T08:38:16Z")
Aww come on, All she did was "allegedly placing her 3-month-old son in a clothes dryer " And it only resulted in " third-degree burns over 50 percent of his body " I mean, really, who here can say they have never done that? Ok That was a little trollish. Satire has its uses and this is one of them. I have two sons, one a proud twenty something the other a pain in the ass fourten year old bastard and all I can think is WTF?? ---
**Author:** ![EvilGhandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@EvilGhandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilGhandi)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-baby-in-dryer/334511/30 "2005-12-08T08:45:42Z")
Err… by “pain in the ass fourteen year old bastard”, I meant perfectly normal teen boy. Must have been somthing wrong with my keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-baby-in-dryer/334511/31 "2005-12-08T10:38:06Z")
I repeat, I _genuinely struggle to believe_ that she is of sound mind and carried out this act coldly and deliberately before phoning the police, when postnatal psychosis is a known condition. But then again, I also genuinely struggle to understand how the US can be called “civilised”. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-baby-in-dryer/334511/32 "2005-12-08T10:46:59Z")
Ouch. I foresee tears before bedtime. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-baby-in-dryer/334511/33 "2005-12-08T12:26:58Z")
> [@Lissa](#): > > That’s a dangerous assumption. I don’t understand why it would be dangerous. It is what it is. A woman who apparently lacks the maternal instinct to protect and nurture, and instead murders her child, isn’t playing with a full deck. There could be a number of reasons for it, ranging from drug or alcohol abuse, post-partum depression, schizophrenia, or any number of reasons. There is something wrong with her that keeps her from behaving the way the vast majority of women behave toward their children. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-baby-in-dryer/334511/34 "2005-12-08T12:28:08Z")
> [@Martin Hyde](#): > > I don’t care if she has a mental illness, unless it can be demonstrated that she did not know the difference between right and wrong should be she excluded from prosecution. They determined that woman who drowned her four kids was off her rocker, but being off your rocker != acquittal in the United States. You have to demonstrate that you were **criminally** insane to the point that you did not know the difference between right and wrong. > > So, do you guys also give a pass to that guy that killed his baby because it was bothering him while he played EverQuest? > > Or the guy who put his baby in a microwave and fried it? > > Or is it only in the case of a woman killing (or maiming) a baby that we should automatically assume the person has to be insane? You’re talking about “legal” crazy rather than “clinical” crazy. There’s a huge difference. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-baby-in-dryer/334511/35 "2005-12-08T12:52:06Z")
Is there an undercurrent of sexism here? The woman is being suggested to be mentally ill, but were it the father, I doubt we’d hear a peep of that. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-baby-in-dryer/334511/36 "2005-12-08T12:58:36Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > Based on what evidence? I think we have a natural instinct not to murder our own children. Murder is of course taboo everywhere, murdering children a step beyond that, and murdering them in such a macabre way a step beyond that. It’s behavior that is so far out of the norm that I have a hard time believing that a sane person would ever do it. ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-baby-in-dryer/334511/37 "2005-12-08T13:11:32Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Is there an undercurrent of sexism here? Post-childbirth depression/psychosis is more common in the one gender that undergoes the actual childbirth. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-baby-in-dryer/334511/38 "2005-12-08T13:40:10Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Is there an undercurrent of sexism here? The woman is being suggested to be mentally ill, but were it the father, I doubt we’d hear a peep of that. Really? You don’t think that, were a father to put a baby into the dryer, the suggestion that he was mentally ill would not be made? I find that unlikely. And why is it that you suspect this bias against men? I’m thinking of the instances I’ve heard of in which fathers killed children, and I cannot recall thinking other than there was some sort of mental illness involved. ---
**Author:** ![ms.deanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@ms.deanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ms.deanna)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-baby-in-dryer/334511/39 "2005-12-08T13:54:45Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Oh, she’s definately insane. The knee-jerk reaction is “make sure she never breeds again, and get her out of society forever.” But…a dryer? That’s just sick. ``` I agree with that. I say beat the holy livin' shit out of her, then spay her, then lock the bitch up. I don't even give a fuck if she's crazy. ``` ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-baby-in-dryer/334511/40 "2005-12-08T14:52:51Z")
> [@ms.deanna](#): > > I agree with that. I say beat the holy livin’ shit out of her, then spay her, then lock the bitch up. I don’t even give a fuck if she’s crazy. Hmmm. If shes going to be locked up for the rest of her natural, then isn’t the middle step a little redundant? And what’s the first step supposed to accomplish, other than make you feel better? I can’t say that I’m too surprised that a schoolgirl with two kids at the age of eighteen has ended up as a horrific headline and an advertisement for birth control. There’s a reason why having kids is normally reserved for slightly later in life these days. [non-Fox linky with more background](http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1134027521231650.xml) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-baby-in-dryer/334511.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-baby-in-dryer/334511.md?page=3)