" Being under the influence of marijuana will NOT make you run around naked and drive your car into a pole. "

" "Realistic" have you been high before? I've seen people do a lot of weird things under the influence of marijuana. "

" why plead then? "

" I am pretty sure he may be telling the truth about mental problems, I would assume he did'nt want the hassel of going through the courts to have these charges totally dropped or, in Lincoln possibly being charged with all, versus taking a lesser charge for pleading no contest. Ever heard of a court ordered mental evaluation??? or protect and serve???? thanks for protecting my friends and family from a potentially insane person, Lincoln police and some of the judges still appear to be clueless! "

" I agree with Realistic and Brian. Sounds like this guy has some serious mental health issues that need to be addressed, but the police and county attorney decided to treat him like a criminal rather than help him. I hope he finds a way to help himself since the system obviously won't. "

" But this person STILL ran for public office! Not sure that is what I want in a Nebraska legislator. "

" Wait a minute Absolutely! As a person who has a mental illness (PTSD) I know first hand what psychosis does to the mind. AND as a recovering drug addict for three years now, I've been to places and done things that even my shadow didn't want to follow along. But that is NO way to treat a person suffering from mental illness and drug addiction. Mr. Stepanek needs to be in therapy, not in the county jail. You see, this is the problem with Lancaster County residents, they have this belief that they are better than "other" people who aren't in their high class neighborhoods. And your answer is to lock up the people whom you deem to be less than worthy to breath the same air as you do in a deep and dark hole where matters ONLY get worse, not better. What we should be doing as a community is to address such issues through drug education in elementary schools and carefully watch people in schools, colleges, work places and even neighborhoods who can be potentially placed in a 5150 court order. Locking people up doesn't solve the problem with that person, it only makes matters worse. Instead we should be compassionate about people's problems so then they can learn to be self sufficient. I believe I am a testament to that fact because before, I was crawling through the mud in my life and now I learn how to stand on my own ground. And all of you who believe in what "Absolutely" has to say clearly have no ground to stand on. "

" Two observations:
1) The guy is a Republican.
2) The guy has a history of mental illness. "

" People with mental illness should not be treated as criminals. If he suffered from a diabetic reaction, epilepsy or a heart attack would the consequences be the same? Just because he behaved erraticly before the accident does not mean he had criminal intent. It's a symptom of the illness…not a crime. "

" Hold on hold on!!

If you would have read absolutely's statement, they weren't saying they are in favor of locking up people with mental health issues, they are saying that that's all the courts want to do. They are saying that they hope he gets help for himself because obvioulsy the courts aren't going to help.

AND Brian..I agree...I have never seen anyone run naked then run their car into a pole from marijuana. I've seen people do weird things on LSD, but not on pot. "

" His activity sounds like something other than marijuana intoxification, as if it was, this type of activity would be happening much more often. "

" Here for you is evidence of the impact of the media's role in fostering negative perspectives on mental illness.

http://wonkette.com/tag/charles-stepanek "

" wouldn't you know it! Another person to look up to. "

" This is just crazy to me. He works in the same building as I do and tries to talk to our group every once and awhile on breaks.......wow "