Insanity Defense

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The Insanity Defense What is the insanity plea? What was the M’Naghten case? These are questions lawyers and judges are often asked. Most people do not understand this area of law much at all. The insanity defense is widely misunderstood because of the ways somebody is diagnosed as insane, the differences between clinically and legally insane, and the defense attornies’ arguments often do not make it clear. There are small but distinct differences between the types of insanity. First there are those that are clinically insane. These people have been diagnosed by doctors with some sort of mental illness. Those that are clinically insane are put in psychiatric hospitals which are facilities made for the treatment of the mentally ill (Fiak …show more content…
The first is the M’Naghten Rule. . This was created after the Daniel M’Naghten’s case in 1843. He was proven not guilty by reason of insanity by the reasons stated in the rule. This is how the M’Naghten Rule came to be (“Insanity Defense”). Another method is the Irresistible Impulse Test. This tests to see if the defendant is able to control their impulses to make their actions conform to the law (“Insanity Defense”). Next up is the Model Penal Code Test. This is a sort of mix of the two previously mentioned methods. It tests to see if the defendant is able to understand that their action is wrong and if they are able to control their actions (“Insanity Defense”). The final method is the Durham Rule. This states that the defendant is not responsible for their crime if it was a result of mental illness. This method has to be used along with another as it does not have a way of diagnosing one as insane (“Insanity Defense”). There is also a new, more often used sentence which is: “Guilty but with mental illness.” This would basically make the convicted have to get treatment for their illness and then serve out their sentence (Brogan). With all these methods the defense seems very sound but it has several …show more content…
One of the big problems is gender bias. Females are more likely to achieve the sentence while males have a much lower chance. Also, if the judge is the same gender as the defendant, they have a higher chance of getting the sentence (Yourstone). The next problem deals with execution. There are laws stating that those that are insane are not to be executed. However, prisons and asylums will sometimes medicate a patient so that they are temporarily sane so that they can execute. The U.S. government has been doing this for years and has recently come under fire for this (Fiak 61). Another problem that the sentence is rarely given due to laws that are to general and broad. There has also not been much of an effort to fix this. This results in many people that are mentally ill not being properly sentenced (Gulayets). The insanity defense is a controversial topic that along with its good things, has many problems. The insanity defense is widely misunderstood because of the ways somebody is diagnosed as insane, the differences between clinically and legally insane, and the defense attorney's’ arguments often do not make it clear. There are methods such as the M’Naghten Rule and the Durham Rule that are too vague (“Insanity Defense”). The differences between clinically and legally insane are very confusing. And the problems with the defense are in abundance and
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