Read complete books and articles on: Insanity Defense

Insanity - mental disorder of such severity as to render its victim incapable of managing his affairs or of conforming to social standards. Today, the term insanity is used chiefly in criminal law, to denote mental aberrations or defects that may relieve a person from the legal consequences of his or her acts. The case of Daniel McNaughtan, who was found not guilty by reason of insanity after making an assassination attempt on British prime minister Robert Peel (1834), gave rise to the modern insanity defense used in many Western nations today. In the United States, the 1954 case of Durham v. the United States led to the establishment of new rules for testing defendants. Today, psychologists may perform tests to determine whether or not the defendant is mentally stable. Such tests try to ascertain whether or not a defendant can distinguish right from wrong, and whether or not he acted on an "irresistible impulse." John Hinckley's assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan (1981) became another landmark in the history of the insanity defense. The court's initial verdict of "not guilty by reason of insanity" generated public outcry and renewed interest in the verdict of "guilty but mentally ill," which is permissible in some states. This verdict allows defendants deemed mentally ill to be hospitalized but requires them to carry out a reasonable prison sentence as well. In 1983, the Supreme Court ruled it permissable to keep a mentally ill defendant hospitalized for a term longer than the maximum sentence for the crime with which the defendant was charged. Many have contended that the insanity defense is nothing more than a legal loophole, allowing serious criminals to escape imprisonment. In fact, the plea is rarely employed in the United States, and it is estimated that less than 1% of defendants have used it successfully. Recent years have seen the restrictions surrounding insanity defense considerably narrowed, with the sole criteria for a successful plea being the determination of whether or not the defendant knew he was breaking the law.

See R. Simon and D. Aaronson, The Insanity Defense (1988); R. Porter, A Social History of Madness: The World Through the Eyes of the Insane (1989).

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11 of the Best Books and Articles on: Insanity Defense

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Evil or Ill? Justifying the Insanity Defence » Read Now
by Lawrie Reznek. 331 pgs.

Collections: Psychology, Entire Library

Lawrie Reznek addresses these questions and more in his controversial investigation of the insanity defense in Evil or Ill ? Drawing from countless intriguing case examples, he aims to understand the concept of an excuse, and explains why the law excuses certain actions and not others. In his...
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Lawrie Reznek addresses these questions and more in his controversial investigation of the insanity defense in Evil or Ill ? Drawing from countless intriguing case examples, he aims to understand the concept of an excuse, and explains why the law excuses certain actions and not others. In his easily accessible and elegant style, he explains that in law, there exists two excuses derived from Aristotle: the excuses of ignorance and compulsion. Reznek, however proposes a third excuse - the excuse of character change. In introducing this third excuse, Reznek raises a controversial possibility - the abolition of the insanity defence.
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2.

The Insanity Defense: A Critical Assessment of Law and Policy in the Post-Hinckley Era » Read Now
by Rita J. Simon, David E. Aaronson, Judge Barrington D. Parker. 279 pgs.

Collections: Psychology, Entire Library

No area of criminal law has been the subject of more controversy than the insanity defense. The Insanity Defense is a clear assessment of this issue as it exists in the 1980s. It provides the reader with a basis for understanding and evaluating the legislative and judicial responses to the factors...
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No area of criminal law has been the subject of more controversy than the insanity defense. The Insanity Defense is a clear assessment of this issue as it exists in the 1980s. It provides the reader with a basis for understanding and evaluating the legislative and judicial responses to the factors that have stirred this controversy. Simon and Aaronson begin with a detailed historical overview. They discuss the necessity of expert witnesses in the actual trial and probe into the jury's role and responsibility. They describe the various movements that have been used to abolish the insanity defense, as well as assess the use and interpretation of the defense in other nations.
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3.

Mental Condition Defences in the Criminal Law » Read Now
by R. D. Mackay. 252 pgs.

Collections: Psychology, Entire Library

Mental condition defences have been used in several high-profile and controversial criminal trials in recent years. indeed, mental abnormality is increasingly an important yet complex source of defence within the criminal trial process. The author offers a detailed critical analysis of those...
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Mental condition defences have been used in several high-profile and controversial criminal trials in recent years. indeed, mental abnormality is increasingly an important yet complex source of defence within the criminal trial process. The author offers a detailed critical analysis of those defences within the Criminal Law where the accused relies on some form of mental abnormality as a source of defence. Topics covered include: the defences of automatism, insanity, diminished responsibility, and infanticide; self-induced incapacity; and the doctrine of fault. It also includes a chapter on unfitness to plead, which although not a defence has been included because of its important relationship to mental disorder within the criminal process. Drawing upon a wide variety of legal, psychiatric, and philosophical sources, this is a timely contribution to a controversial and complex topic.
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4.

Litigating Morality: American Legal Thought and Its English Roots (Chap. 4 "The Criminal Insanity Defense: English and American Attorneys") » Read Now
by Alice Fleetwood Bartee. 149 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library

This is a thematic study in legal history that uses past and present landmark court cases to analyze the legal and historical development of moral regulatory policies in America and resulting debates.
5.

Decision-Making in Criminal Defense: An Empirical Study of Insanity Pleas and the Impact of Doubted Client Competence, in Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology » Read Now
by Richard J. Bonnie, Norman G. Poythress, Steven K. Hoge. 15 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...pursue a clinically supported insanity defense. The study is of interest for...Decisions concerning the insanity defense also provide an interesting...clinical opinion...
6.

Should Courts Instruct Juries as to the Consequences to a Defendant of a "Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity" Verdict?, in Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology » Read Now
by Randi Ellias. 22 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...Supreme Court held that under the Insanity Defense Reform Act of 1984 (IDRA), courts...passage of the IDRA had on the insanity defense; and various federal...
7.

Men Found Unfit to Stand Trial And/Or Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity: Recidivism, in Canadian Journal of Criminology » Read Now
by Sheilagh Hodgins. 20 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...Greenland, C. "Crime and the insanity defense. An international comparison: Ontario...and/or not guilty by reason of insanity in Quebec," International Journal...and/or not...
8.

Psychiatric Evidence in Criminal Trials: To Junk or Not to Junk?, in William and Mary Law Review » Read Now
by Christopher Slobogin. 56 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...almost entirely in support of an insanity defense, with occasional attempts to...to broaden the scope of the insanity defense,(116) are the similar comments...pathological...
9.

A Forensic Psychology Exercise: Role Playing and the Insanity Defense, in Teaching of Psychology » Read Now
by Michael E. Fass. 3 pgs.

Collections: Education, Psychology, Entire Library

...Exercise: Role Playing and the Insanity Defense Michael E. Fass Miami...discussion on the issue of the insanity defense and related psychological topics...improved their...
10.

This is Insane!, in Perspectives in Psychiatric Care (Andrea Yates case) » Read Now
by Mary Paquette. 2 pgs.

Collections: Psychology, Entire Library

...mean she was insane. The insanity defense was established through centuries...The modern formulation of the insanity defense derives from the MNaghten Rules...changes that...
11.

The Criminal and His Allies (1928) (Chap. 7 "The Insanity Defense") » Read Now
by Marcus Kavanagh. 433 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...put an end to the humbug of insanity as a defense, if anything will. Under the...defendant relies upon the defense of insanity he must make the specific plea...67 VII THE...