The insanity defense

The insanity defense has been a controversial legal tactic for centuries. The centuries-old idea that mentally ill criminals should not be held responsible for their actions has infuriated observers of American law. Those who seek a get-tough approach to crime see the insanity defense as legal fakery, one more tactic in a defender's bag of tricks.

Jeffrey Dahmer, John Hinkley, Jr., David Berkowitz, and Jack Ruby, among many others, will forever be linked in the public mind by their courtroom use of the insanity defense as much as by their infamous deeds. In his The Insanity Plea: The Uses and Abuses of the Insanity Defense, Winslade adds the following high-profile criminals to the roster of those who have attempted to use such a defense: Dan White, Prosenjit Poddar, Leonard Smith, Tex Watson, Robert Torsney, and James Grigson.

Winslade gives a good statement of the basis for our inherent distaste for the insanity defense when he writes:

The underlying theory of American law is that an individual is responsible for his actions and that if he violates the law, he should expect to be found guilty and be punished; and that society has the duty to find him guilty and to punish him. The standard for this responsibility is the knowledge of right and wrong and the ability to choose either course. The law asserts that people know--or should know--what is permitted and what is not permitted, and that they are free to choose and that they must accept the legal consequences

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iagnosed with a mental illness. Again, however, the frequency of occurrence of the insanity defense should have no bearing on its right to be invoked. In addition, what about the 10 percent of cases which did not result in an independent diagnosis of mental illness? Shouldn't they have been caught by the net of a judicial system whose purpose is to keep society safe from harm? Although the insanity plea is not used very often and is not very often successful, when it is successful, the result is frequently such an obvious abuse of the idea of insanity and nonresponsibility that the verdict enrages the public and tarnishes both the legal system and the psychiatric profession. The following Newsday account, included in Lubin's study of violent crime and psychiatry's dilemma, shows David Berkowitz toying with the "shrinks" like a cat with mice: Two court-appointed psychiatrists have reversed themselves and declared "Son of Sam" suspect David berkowitz mentally competent to stand trial, it was learned last night. Dr. Schwartz and an associate, Dr. Richard Weidenbacher, reportedly changed their position after Berkowitz informed them that he now believes, as a born again Baptist, that he is "serving Jesus" and hopes to preach

Category: Government - T