Five Forms Of Insanity In The Criminal Justice System

The world consists of many people who are not in the right state of mind to be able to fully interact with the rest of society. However, when they are able to interact with society, they have a chance to commit crimes they normally would not. For example, is someone was emotionally depressed and felt like nobody in this world cared about them, they may commit suicide. If this person was not emotionally depressed, they most likely would not have the thought of ending their own life. Many people who are mentally insane may not realize it at the time because they believe they are normal. With this being said, they go on with their day to day activities as if they were normal. Something may trigger in their mind where they then commit a crime.

Five of these forms would be the M’Naghten rule, irresistible impulse, Durham rule, Insanity Defense Reform Act, and the substantial capacity test. The M’Naghten rule states the defendant would have been committing the crime while being unable to determine if it was right or wrong. If the defendant was unable to determine if they are doing the right thing or the wrong thing, then he or she is able to plead insane. The irresistible impulse is about someone not being able to control themselves even if they knew the act was illegal. An example of this would be, “when Lorena Bobbitt successfully defended herself against charges that she cut off the penis of her husband, John, after suffering abuse at his hands” (Siegel, pg. 151) The Durham rule says that someone is able to legally plead insane if they committed a crime because of a mental disease of defect. In order for this rule to be in use, the defendant must distinctly show that by evidence that he or she had a mental disease or defect at the time of the crime. The Insanity Defense Reform Act explains that if someone did not fully understand or appreciate the wrongfulness of the crime committed, then they can plead insane. The last form is the substantial capacity test which expresses, “insanity should be defined as a lack of substantial capacity to control one’s behavior”

Susan Smith had murdered her two sons by letting them roll down a hill into a lake while trapped inside the car. Her initial plan was to commit suicide while still murdering her two sons, Michael and Alex. After trying a few times but stopping the car by pulling on the emergency brake, she decided not to commit suicide but to continue to end the lives of her children (Pergament). She thought that her children would be in better hands by the side of God than without a mother. After ending the life of her two children, she decided to keep the secret to herself and make up and alibi for what had happened. Smith said that a black man had kidnapped her sons and that she had no involvement in it. Her ex-husband had faith in her that she was telling the truth and believed the story of the kidnapping. A couple days later, she was questioned by the police multiple times about the “kidnapping” and her stories did not match up every time. Soon, the police noticed that she was lying about what had happened. A sheriff, by the name of Howard Wells, questioned Smith in a church that was close to the Union County Courthouse (Pergament). During the investigation, Smith and Wells prayed and at the end of the prayer, Wells mentioned how the truth will come in time and looked at Susan while saying it. Susan then let out a full confession after praying and told police specific details about where the car was, who was in the