The Importance Of The Insanity Defense

Why the Insanity Defense should not be Abolished Is it possible to absolutely, without a doubt measure the capacity of insanity? The Insanity defense has been a very controversial topic of conversation for as long as it has been around, although it is the least used criminal defense. There are many reasons why the Insanity defense becomes the topic of conversation is the fact that many people are misinformed about the basis of the insanity defense and what actually happens in these cases. There are many misconception about the insanity defense such as: many people think that it is very easy to fabricate in the court room, they think that it is the easy way out for people who think they do not deserve to go to prison, and also they think that …show more content…
In the court cases that the Insanity Defense and is successful, 90% of the defendants that plead insanity have been previously diagnosed with a mental illness. (Lithwick).The Insanity Defense was first created it was used more as an argument for the defendant to pardon themselves from a sentence. Defendants that are found not fit to stand trial and plead insanity; will then in most cases be committed to a mental institution. The mental institutions that the defendants are sent to after the trials are in some cases worse than prisons. In the mental intuitions there is no allocated time period that the defendant will be in the intuitions, in some cases the offender will be committed for the rest of their lives. The most notable case that involved the Insanity defense was the case of John Hinckley Jr., this case painted the Insanity Defense in a negative light because many people believed that he should have been imprisoned for the rest of his life or …show more content…
There are many experts that have explored the idea of how the Insanity Defense could be “fixed” for the public to agree with. Richard Bonnie, a professor of public policy, law and medicine at the University of Virginia, has came to the theory that the insanity defense should not be abolished but should be narrowed. He came to the conclusion that the criteria of what qualifies for “Insanity”, by narrowing the criteria, it will help persuade the public that the insanity defense is not harmful for the overall public, but it is a healthier outcome. Another way to help the public agree is to inform the public what actually happens in these court cases, and help sort out the