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The Pros And Cons Of The Insanity Defense

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In the American legal system, there is a well known criminal defense strategy called the insanity defense. This plea ultimately claims and acknowledges that the person being tried was involved in the crime but was not, however, in a sound mental state and should therefore be pardoned from their actions. This idea was created in order to provide a defense for the criminals who do not have a sound mind, getting the court to label them as innocent as a result of their insanity. This particular method of defense falls under something called the excuse defense category, which uses an excuse, in this case insanity, to remove the responsibility of one's actions that resulted in the harm of others or the crime committed. In order for this plea to actually …show more content…

However, by taking a look at the other side of the spectrum, it is clear to see that just because the insanity defense is used does not mean that all people believe it should be. One of the major arguments against the insanity defense is that defendants are only using the insanity plea in order to get out of their criminal charges by either faking or dramatizing a mental illness. It's also a common argument that there is no real way to measure someone's true sanity, and so it is very difficult to determine if someone is faking being insane. Morse states that this defense confuses “causation with excuse or moral and legal concepts with medical concepts.” This shows that many believe morals and ideals do not directly relate to medical ideals, so by using one to justify the other just isn't fair nor right to the legal system. He continues by writing that the insanity defense “produces wrong verdicts.” and that the “assessment of past mental state is too difficult.” Ultimately, meaning that you can never really know who is lying to get out of their charges and who is truly

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Lee Robin's Case Summary

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An incident where pleading insanity worked in one’s favor is heard in the case of Lee Robin. Lee Robin was a 30-year-old doctor who was charged with murder of his wife and his two year old daughter. Robin admitted to killing his wife with an ax and drowning his infant daughter. After the murders, Robin called the police and reported that there was “a problem” at his home. Soon after, the police arrived.

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Insanity Defense Of Andrea Yates

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Dr. Mark Nolan, Senior Lecturer at ANU College of Law, says that the NGRI plea “enables defendants to avoid criminal liability and standard criminal punishment” (Nolan 8). The main disagreement with America is the focus whether if the “guilty defendant” pursues to misuse the “Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity” as an alternative to imprisonment or if the criminally accused was at the time of committing the crime “clinically insane” and in need psychotherapy. Therefore, during this discussion of opposing viewpoints concerning the insanity defense being misused or ethical are going to be

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First-Degree Murder Case Summary

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Mental illness is necessary to use the insanity defense and

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What Is Myers III V. State Of Indiana An Example Of Mental Competency?

1528 Words | 7 Pages

In the field of criminal law there is a certain type of criminal defense that comes to the court and has a low success rate. These cases concern the mental capacity of the defendant and if they have enough mental capacity, or are sane enough, to be aware of their crime and consequences of crime. The insanity defense is extremely rare because of how difficult it is for the defense to prove to the court and jury that the defendant did not have the mental capacity to understand what they did wrong and the consequences from it. The case of Myers III v. State of Indiana is one example of criminal responsibility and mental capacity. This case has information that can be connected to the textbook with the insanity defense tests, mental competence

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Two Arguments Against The Insanity Defense By Thomas Szasz

242 Words | 1 Pages

So what can be done? A few numbers of American writers have argued that the insanity defence should be abolished. Two arguments have been relied upon. The first is that the insane defendant should be able to rely upon the same defenses as a sane defendant. For an instance, if an insane person lacks mens rea for an offence he deserves to be acquitted.

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Use Of The Insanity Plea By Andrea Yates

2597 Words | 11 Pages

During my true crime podcast era, I came across Andrea Yates. Yates was a mother who killed her five young children by drowning them in a bathtub. While listening to this case, it was revealed that the insanity plea, or also known as the insanity defense, was used. It got me thinking about how the plea works and how people would allow this outcome over a jail sentence. The insanity plea is a tough topic to tackle in the world of criminal law.

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Insanity Plea Pros And Cons

543 Words | 3 Pages

Stating that they are suffering from a mental disorder, and because of that, they have done things that are against the law. In conclusion people that are mentally ill should have the right to chose the insanity defense, it wouldn’t be fair to just throw them into a prison when they can get a much needed treatment, putting them into a prison can harm them and the prison. Just because the insanity testimony isn’t used a lot doesn’t mean it isn’t an actual issue, so we should keep

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Insanity Defense Overused

1667 Words | 7 Pages

This case, while Monte Durham wasn’t able to be proven insane, lead to reformations of the M’naghten Rule that would eventually be called the Durham Rule. Going back to Fersch’ book, this would implement more scientific approaches to determine if somebody was legally insane (3). Later in 1984, President Reagan would implement the Comprehensive Crime Control Act that required criminals to prove that they are mentally insane. With the history of the insanity defense concluded, let us take a look at some cases where the insanity defense is involved as the criminal’s reason for their

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Insanity Defense Thesis

620 Words | 3 Pages

The insanity defense is a compromise between society and the justice system. Used to give an excuse for the criminal's crime, it takes in account both the crime committed, as well as the criminal's mental illness. In society,

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Insanity Plea Persuasive Essay

733 Words | 3 Pages

The fact is that the insanity plea only covers those who are truly insane, and even then, they must provide “clear and convincing evidence”, meaning that there must be some sort of absolute that provides their excuse.(Source C) Many of the crimes that are pleaded for insanity actually fall under diminished capacity. This is where the controversy is born, under the belief that those who are pleading for insanity are only incapacitated, not insane. The Courts are able to distinguish these differences. “Insanity plea statistics reveals that almost 70% of defendants withdrew their defense on insanity plea when their respective state appointed experts found out that they were legally san persons.”

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Criminal Justice System: The Difference Between Competency And Sanity

437 Words | 2 Pages

2014, https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/so-sue-me/201411/the-difference-between-competency-and-sanity.). The judge also looks at the person’s mental state at the time of the crime. The main difference between competency to stand trial and insanity at the time of the event is that the competency can look at mental and physical health, while the insanity at the time of the event only looks at one’s mental state. The steps required in an insanity plea in the courts are: The M’Naghten rule, which “determines if the defendant understood what they did and could not distinguish right from wrong” (“Insanity Defense - FindLaw.” http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-procedure/insanity-defense.html.), The Irresistible Impulse Test, which “tests a defendant’s impulse control” (“Insanity Defense - FindLaw.” http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-procedure/insanity-defense.html.), the Durham Rule, which “looks at the defendant’s mental defect as the cause of a criminal act” (“Insanity Defense - FindLaw.”

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Arguments For The Insanity Defense

2547 Words | 11 Pages

The insanity defense proves defendants not guilty by arguing that at the time of the crime they lacked the mental capacity to realize that they were committing a crime. This defense is currently used in 46 states, some of which allow defendants to argue that they had no control over their actions even if they realized that what they were doing was unlawful (Mental Health America). The insanity defense was created to impose a moral check on the judicial system; many people argued that if children aren’t punished for crimes because they are too young to realize that their actions are wrong, then adults who aren’t mentally capable of making this distinction shouldn’t be punished either. This defense, however, is often abused, which defeats its

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Arguments Against Insanity Defense

874 Words | 4 Pages

Insanity Defense Imani Batiste Lee College Insanity Defense The insanity defense is described as, “A defense asserted by an accused in a criminal prosecution to avoid liability for the commission of a crime because, at the time of the crime, the person did not appreciate the nature or quality or wrongfulness of the acts” (Encyclopedia, 2005). It was first instituted in late-thirteenth-century England as “Complete Madness” (Encyclopedia, 2005). The defense is based on the belief that people who are ill should be treated for their illness rather than sentenced to prison or death. There are legitimate times when an individual has a serious mental illness that caused their actions because they were not able to process correctly.

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Arguments Against Insanity Defense

1042 Words | 5 Pages

Some say an insanity defense is a legal concept, not a clinical one. In some cases, the prosecution has had a hard time distinguishing between people pretending to be insane and the people who actually suffer from insanity. (Math, Kumar, and Moirangthem) Even though it is legal to be insane, do not take advantage of it and go do something you will regret later in life. There is a time and place and there is also a way to act in a public place.

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Essay On Dismiss The Defense

568 Words | 3 Pages

Dismiss the Defense How many criminals are we allowing to slip through the Law on the grounds of insanity and are they actually crazy or just crazy smart. The insanity plea allows criminals with a psychotic disorder to be reprieved of a trial because they weren’t working of their own accord during the time of their offense (Bikel, Ofra). Although psychosis can influence mentally and physically (IMH) the plea of insanity is an unjustified form of defense in the American Judicial System. The insanity plea is a unjustified form of defense because of many different reasons. To start with “when someone is developing a serious mental illness with psychosis, such as schizophrenia, they usually do not know it” says Gerald Goodman, PhD in psychology (Kam).

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