Some jurisdictions require the evaluation to address the defendant's ability to control their behavior at the time of the offense. A defendant claiming insanity is pleading "not guilty by reason of insanity" or "guilty but insane/mentally ill" in some jurisdictions which, if successful, may result in the defendant being committed to a mental hospital for an indeterminate period.
The insanity plea is used in the U.S Criminal Justice System in less than 1% of all criminal cases. Some U.S. states have begun to ban the use of the insanity defense. In 2001, the Nevada Supreme Court found that their state's abolition of the defense was unconstitutional as a violation of Federal due process. In 2006, the Supreme Court decided Clark v. Arizona upheld Arizona's limitations on the insanity defense. In that same ruling, the Court noted "We have never held that the Constitution mandates an insanity defense, nor have we held that the Constitution does not so require." The plea of temporary insanity argues that a defendant was insane, but is now sane. This defense was first used by U.S. Congressman Daniel Sickles of New York in 1859 after he had killed his wife's lover, Philip Barton Key, but was most used during the 1940s and 1950s. .
In the United States, variances in the insanity defense between states, and in the federal court system, are attributable to differences to three key issues as stated in the following: Whether to provide the insanity defense, how to define "insanity," and the burden of proof. Each state and the federal court system currently use one of the following "tests" to define insanity for purposes of the insanity defense: The M'Naghten test, the Durham/New Hampshire test, and the Model Penal Code test.
Mental Illness.
Mental illness is the key factor in forensic psychology. There are numerous diseases that can be "triggered ". Forensic psychology tells us mass murders as well as many other criminals, are often driven by mental disorders.
During trials, some convicted criminals are determined to be insane when in reality all fierce offenders are insane. How does one judge sane from insane? ... Does a man who would randomly kill innocent victims display a rational mind? ... A human being that does not know the value of life does not possess a rational mind. ... These criminals should be sent to insane asylums where they belong, not to death row. ...
During trials, some convicted criminals are determined to be insane when in reality all fierce offenders are insane. How does one judge sane from insane? ... Does a man who would randomly kill innocent victims display a rational mind? ... A human being that does not know the value of life does not possess a rational mind. ... These criminals should be sent to insane asylums where they belong, not to death row. ...
The insanity defense refers to that branch of the concept of insanity that defines the extent to which men accused of crimes may be relieved of criminal responsibility. ... Temporary insanity is a defense used in criminal prosecution in which the state of mind during the crime negates his or hers criminal responsibility. ... Every crime involves a physical act, or actus Reus, and a mental act, or mens rea, the non-physical cause of behavior (guilty mind). The mens rea is the mental element required for a crime, and if absent excuses the defendant from criminal responsibility and punishment. .....
Criminal anthropologists taught that some criminals are unchangeable and doomed to lives of crime. ... The Positive Schools primary focus was on the prevention of crime and the reformation of offenders, the demand for facts and scientific proof and that there are mind and body differences between people and that the punishment should fit the individual criminal, not the individual crime. ... He called the "born Criminal" a being that was predestined for criminal behavior due to his physical configuration. ... Another point the school made was that there were four classes of criminals: born (at...
Who is to say if the defendant was insane at the time of the crime? ... The M"Naghten rule reads: A defendant may be excused from criminal responsibility if at the time of the commission of the act the party accused was laboring under such a defect of reason, from a disease of the mind, as not to know the nature and the quality of the act he was doing, or if he did know it, that he did not know that he was doing what was wrong. ... In 1971 there was a reassessment of 586 inmates of Pennsylvania's Fairview State Hospital for the Criminally Insane who were placed there under the guilty, b...
The insanity defense is when a defendant may be excused from criminal responsibility if at the time of the commission of the act the party accused was laboring under such a defect of reason, from a disease of the mind, as not to know the nature and the quality of the act he was doing, or if he did know it, that he did not know that he was doing what was wrong. ... Everyone has free will, although it may be compromised by the insane and passion of a crime. ... However, I did not mention how severe a punishment should be for the insane. I do take into consideration of extenuating circumstances t...
Discuss whether the rules governing insanity as a defence in criminal law are in a satisfactory condition. ... The definition states that the defendant must be suffering from a "disease of the mind" and the law states that this can be a mental or physical disease or injury which affects the mind. ... Other ailments that have succeeded include diabetes (Hennessy 1989) and sleepwalking (Burgess 1991) In cases like this it could be seen as strange that a defendant has to plead that they are legally insane instead of being able to use non-insane automatism. ... Also, people with common...
Today the term "insane" is used primarily in criminal law. Criminal law is what sets the limits of behavior in a society. ... The insanity plea was a criminal's greatest hope. ... Some say that the insanity defense merely allows criminal to escape imprisonment. ... Yates drowned her five children, but who in their right mind would drown their five children? ...
These individuals needed to have this defense as their mental capacity differs from those with a sane mind. ... Although we no longer debate what to do with our insane community, we do debate if one is insane. Indeed, we have even created excuses for the sane to be "Temporarily Insane", and all of this is highly arguable. ... The insanity defense is not widely used and is raised in only about 1 percent of all criminal cases (Schmalleger, 2003, p. 267). ... While some states no longer allow defendants to raise the insanity defense as an excuse to a criminal charge, defendants in all jurisdi...
