The Insanity Plea

1756 Words4 Pages

Over the years the standards and requirements for the insanity plea have changed, from strict to lenient back to strict and so on. According to the article ‘Insanity defense among the states’, in some states for example Kansas, Montana, Idaho, and Utah just abolished the ability to pleading insanity all together. (Insanity defense among the states) In other states the requirements vary like in California they use the McNaughton rule which says that to be declared insane, defendants must either not have known what they were doing at the time or not have realized their actions were wrong. (Insanity defense among the states) Despite the fact that people plead insanity it is not confirmed they will be granted that permission and there is no possible way to prove that they were actually insane at the time, the insanity defense is needed because it is a right that we are entitled to use and some people really were not aware of what they were doing so they should not receive a punishment that they do not deserve.
Despite the fact that people plead insanity it is not confirmed they will be granted that permission and there is no possible way to prove that they were actually insane at the time even with all the research and studies that they run. People say that if a person is found innocent but insane then that person is sent to a psychiatric hospital and if they get better they can even get out earlier than they were sentenced to no matter how big the crime that they committed was. But they are wrong, according to the article ‘the insanity verdict on trial’ research shows that those who have been sent to a psychiatric hospital stay just as long as a person who committed the same crime and is in prison, even though in some states such as...

... middle of paper ...

...ter-insanity-plea-tuesday>.
Lilienfeld, Scott O"The Insanity Verdict on Trial." Scientific American Mind. 10 01 2011: n. page. Web. 12 Sep. 2013.
Martin, John P.."The Insanity Defense: A Closer Look." Washingtonpost.com. the Washington
Post Company, 27 Feb 1998. Web. 6 Dec 2013.
Montaldo, Charles .Caplan, Lincoln “The Insanity Defense.” About.com. N.p.. Web. 1 November
2013
Schouten, Ronold."The insanity defefense; An Intersection of Morality, Public Policy, and Science ." Psychology Today. N.p., 16 08 2012. Web. 19 Sep 2013.
“Insanity Defense.” . N.p., 03 September 2013. Web. 5 September 2013.
.
“The Insanity Defense Among the States.” FindLaw. N.P.. Web. 4 December 2013.

Show More
Related

  • Island Tree School District vs. Pico Benjamin Waldman Civics/4B 1/12/14

    972 Words  | 2 Pages

    .... N. p.. Web. The Web. The Web. 14 Jan 2014.

    Read More

  • Capital Punishment: The Ford V. Wainwright Case

    902 Words  | 2 Pages

    "The Invigorated Mind." : The Execution of the Insane: Ford v. Wainwright (1986). The Invigorated Mind, n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.

    Read More

  • Who Is Bruco Eastwood Undercover Insanity Plea?

    1230 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many criminals find many ways to get out of jail or being sentenced to death, what goes through their minds? Pleading insanity means to not be guilty of a crime committed due to reason of mental illness. In many cases criminals get away with pleading insanity, but in the end does it always work out? Bruco Eastwood pleaded insanity and therefore his background, crime, and where he is now will be crucial to Brucos’ insanity plea.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Jeffrey Dahmer's Plea Of Insanity

    3860 Words  | 8 Pages

    With murder charges of fifteen people, cannibalism, and necrophilia hanging over his head, Jeffery Dahmer plead not guilty by reason of insanity. Since Dahmer was a child he had shown withdraws and avoidance of society. He had a habit of collecting dead animals, and he would dissect, dissolve them in many different ways. When Dahmers plea of insanity was rejected by the court, he was then charged with fifteen counts of murder (Yoong). Many believe that when Jeffrey Dahmer 's plea was rejected that it was the end of anyone using, but that isn’t the case. It is used quite rarely, but it is still in use. In all reality, the insanity plea should always be rejected. The only way it should be allowed is if the criminal is fully innocent. “The insanity

    Read More

  • Macbeth and His Mental Deterioration

    1302 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cleckley, Hervey M. Introduction. The Mask of Sanity. New York: New American Library, 1982. N. pag. Web.

    Read More

  • Case Study Of Mark J. Dipietley's Case

    1723 Words  | 4 Pages

    What’s more, the success rate of those cases is only about 26%. Insanity defense can be a possible escape to crime, but in order to state as true the defense of insanity or the insanity plea, the person who is being sued or was sued must declare that he/she is not responsible for his/her actions because of their mental health problem. That person must strongly express that he/she was not aware of the actions. Usually, the first thing that is done in a person’s insanity plea is that he /she needs to go through a thorough mental process. Psychologists or Psychiatrists can help the process on how to figure out the person’s actual state of mind during the crime. However, they are not in the position to decide whether the person is really insane. Only the jury can decide whether the statements in court or the findings support the criminal insanity defense. If the court finds the person is guilty for the possible crime but she or she was not mentally responsible during the time that the crime was committed, often, they will be sent to a psychiatric hospital or placed in a mental hospital for the criminally insane. Usually, punishment is not forever; it will only last until the person is no longer a threat to the people of the world. There are cases where they claim insanity only lasts a certain period of time. This kind of defense is very hard to prove. If the person declares that their

    Read More

  • The Insanity Defense

    1267 Words  | 3 Pages

    Former U.S president Ronald Reagan was shot by a man named John Hinckley in the year 1981. The president along with many of his entourage survived the shooting despite the heavy infliction of internal and external injuries. The Hinckley case is a classic example of the 'not guilty by reason of insanity' case (NGRI). The criminal justice system under which all men and women are tried holds a concept called mens rea, a Latin phrase that means "state of mind". According to this concept, Hinckley committed his crime oblivious of the wrongfulness of his action. A mentally challenged person, including one with mental retardation, who cannot distinguish between right and wrong is protected and exempted by the court of law from being unfairly punished for his/her crime. (1)

    Read More

  • Andrea Kennesy Yates

    900 Words  | 2 Pages

    Slobogin, Christopher. "The Integrationist Alternative to the Insanity Defense: Reflections on the Exculpatory Scope of Mental Illness in the Wake of the Andrea Yates Trial." American Journal of Criminal Law (2003): Vol. 30 Issue 3, p315-341.

    Read More

  • An Argument Against Racial Profiling by Police

    831 Words  | 2 Pages

    Walsh, James, and Dan Browning. "Presumed Guilty Until Proved Innocent." Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN). 23 Jul 2000: A1+. SIRS Issues Researcher.

    Read More

  • The Insanity Defense

    2529 Words  | 6 Pages

    When someone commits a crime, he or she may use mental illness as a defense. This is called an insanity plea or insanity defense. What the insanity defense does is try to give the alleged perpetrator a fair trial. At least in extreme cases, society agrees with this principle. The problem is where do we draw the line. Under what circumstances is a person considered insane, and when are they not? The trouble with the insanity defense in recent years is the assumption that virtually all criminals have some sort of mental problem. One important point is that the crime itself, no matter how appalling, does not demonstrate insanity. Today, the insanity defense has become a major issue within the legal system. If the defendant is clearly out of touch with reality, the police and district attorney ordinarily agree to bypass the trial and let the defendant enter a mental hospital.

    Read More

  • The Insanity Defense

    1333 Words  | 3 Pages

    The insanity defense pertains that the issue of the concept of insanity which defines the extent to which a person accused of crimes may be alleviated of criminal responsibility by reason of mental disease. “The term insanity routinely attracts widespread public attention that is far out of proportion to the defense’s impact on criminal justice” (Butler,133). The decision of this defense is solely determined by the trial judge and the jury. They determine if a criminal suffers from a mental illness. The final determination of a mental disease is solely on the jury who uses evidence and information drawn from an expert witness. The result of such a determination places the individual accused, either in a mental facility, incarcerated or released from all charges. Due to the aforementioned factors, there are many problems raised by the insanity defense. Some problems would be the actual possibility of determining mental illness, justify the placement of the judged “mentally ill” offenders and the total usefulness of such a defense. In all it is believed that the insanity defense should be an invalid defense and that it is useless and should potentially be completely abolished.

    Read More

  • Insanity as a Metaphor in The Yellow Wall-Paper, The Tell-Tale Heart, Hamlet, and Mad Song

    1630 Words  | 4 Pages

    The sickness of insanity stems from external forces and stimuli, ever-present in our world, weighing heavily on the psychological, neurological, and cognitive parts of our mind. It can drive one to madness through its relentless, biased, and poisoned view of the world, creating a dichotomy between what is real and imagined. It is a defense mechanism that allows one to suffer the harms of injustice, prejudice, and discrimination, all at the expense of one’s physical and mental faculties.

    Read More

  • Automatism, Insanity and Diminished Responsibility

    1568 Words  | 4 Pages

    A defence in criminal law arises when conditions exist to negate specific elements of the crime: the actus reus when actions are involuntary, the mens rea when the defendant is unaware of the significance of their conduct, or both. These defences will mitigate or eliminate liability for a criminal offence. Insanity, automatism and diminished responsibility are examples of such defenses. They each share characteristics but can be distinguished in their scope and application. Insanity, automatism and diminished responsibility all play a significant role in cases where the defendant’s mind is abnormal while committing a crime.

    Read More

  • Comparing and Contrasting the Differences of Insanity, Automatism and Diminished Responsibility

    1543 Words  | 4 Pages

    There are two theories that justify punishment: retributivism according to which punishment ensures that justice is done, and utilitarianism which justifies punishment because it prevents further harm being done. The essence of defences is that those who do not freely choose to commit an offence should not be punished, especially in those cases where the defendant's actions are involuntary. All three of these defences concern mental abnormalities. Diminished responsibility is a partial statutory defence and a partial excuse. Insanity and automatism are excuses and defences of failure of proof. While automatism and diminished responsibility can only be raised by the defendant, insanity can be raised by the defence or the prosecution. It can be raised by the prosecution when the defendant pleads diminished responsibility or automatism. The defendant may also appeal against the insanity verdict. With insanity and diminished responsibility, the burden of proof is on the defendant. With automatism the burden of proof is on the prosecution and they must negate an automatism claim beyond reasonable doubt.

    Read More

  • Law Enforcement Cameras an Invasion of Privacy

    1067 Words  | 3 Pages

    The. Web. The Web. The Web. 14 May 2014. Horng, Eric.

    Read More

More about The Insanity Plea

Open Document