Questions On Mental Health Law And The Insanity Defense

Let’s take a look at legal statute in mental health law and the insanity defense. In the courts of the State of Massachusetts, "a person is not responsible for criminal conduct if at the time as a result of mental disease or defect he lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality [wrongfulness] of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law." Commonwealth v. McHoul, 352 Mass. 544,546-547) In the courts of the State of Texas, “a criminal defendant asserting insanity defense must prove that mental disease or defect caused defendant to commit conduct constituting offense which is charged; mental condition must cause defendant 's inability to distinguish right from wrong.” Olivier v. State (App. 14 Dist. 1993) 850 S.W.2d 742, Convincing jury whether the defendant was able to “appreciate” the wrongfulness of his conduct” or the

Questions such as how do you assess criminal responsibility, mens rea or intent, with a brain image indicating loss of impulse control?; What are the neural constructs of intent and conscious and or unconscious processing? How does the justice system implement these findings in court? What neural criteria can be established shift the patient to receive treatment or surgery rather than prison?

There is an emerging new understanding of neurobiology of behavior which can intersect with law-making, criminal punishment, and/or rehabilitation strategies. Innovative neurotechnologies are revealing new theories of the brain and mind. The reason being is that the laws governing us, which also sets parameters towards survival and success, are based off our cognitive architecture of innate moral grammar developed within societal paradigms when making judgments. These paradigms are constructed by the justice system punishing individuals to dampen