A Comment on Pre-Trial Commitment of Criminal Defendants

Criminal Law: Commitment and Release of Criminal Defendants Acquitted by Reason of Insanity

WHEN THE DEFENDANT in a criminal case is found not guilty by reason of insanity,' a proper solution to his disposition seeks to satisfy three possibly conflicting considerations. Society demands that dangerous persons be prevented from causing further harm; legal tradition demands that liberty be taken away only by due process of law5 modem scientific knowledge demands that the psychiatric aspe...

Mentally Retarded Criminal Defendants

Criminal defendants who desire punishment.

Some defendants desire to be punished. Sometimes psychotic motivations underlie punishment-seeking behavior; sometimes they do not. The defendant's clinical status is relevant to his competency to stand trial and to waive other rights. These issues are illustrated by presentation of a case of a defendant who sought punishment. The importance of psychiatric assessments of these defendants is emp...

Removal of Defendants in Federal Criminal Procedure

Predicting restorability of incompetent criminal defendants.

U.S. courts frequently require forensic examiners to offer opinions concerning the likelihood that criminal defendants found incompetent to stand trial can have their competence "restored" through treatment. Yet no jurisdiction has established legal guidelines for testimony concerning restorability, and several authors have suggested that mental health professionals cannot accurately predict wh...