What constitutes a "mental disorder" for purposes of the insanity defense? Does mental disorder denote any diagnosable condition listed in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders? Is a mental disorder a disturbance wherein the functional criteria of the appropriate insanity law appear to be met? Or does insanity law define mental disorder apart from functi...

This paper addresses some common questions about the insanity defense and issues raised by commonly proposed "reforms." The first section begins with a brief description of the insanity defense and the reasons for its existence in the law. It then examines some of the popular myths and public misperceptions surrounding the insanity defense. The next three sections discuss proposed "reforms" and...

Using a database of all Missouri insanity acquittees committed on July 1, 1997 (N = 873) and all insanity acquittees unconditionally released from 1986 through 1997 (N = 193), this study calculated the lengths of commitment and identified variables associated with the unconditional release of insanity acquittees from indefinite commitment by the mental health and criminal justice systems. The s...

Juveniles, like adults, should be afforded the right to raise an insanity defense. In this commentary on the article by Morse and Bonnie on the abolition of the insanity defense, we explain why so few juveniles across the United States are granted access to the insanity defense and the reasons that they should have that option. We also consider whether the Delling case was the best suited vehic...

Introduction.......................................................................................... 52 I. Frontal Lobe Brain Dysfunction (“FLD”) and Criminality......... 54 A. Causes and Symptoms of FLD................................................ 57 B. The Role of FLD in Criminal Behavior ................................. 67 II. Admissibility of FLD Evidence.................................

the islamic penal code of i.r. iran mentioning to insanity and its degrees, requires briefly that they are playing obstacle role for considering a person as liable one. this brief speaking has been caused to different interpretations to the legal and psychiatric concepts of insanity. this paper is going to review the interaction between these concepts.

Deciding to raise an insanity defense carries serious consequences. This is especially true for persons charged with minor offenses, for whom an acquittal not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) might lead to a longer period of incarceration than would conviction. Before raising an insanity defense, a defendant should be provided with information necessary to make an informed decision and shoul...

The author examined the records of the seven defendants found not guilty by reason of insanity (NGI) under Utah's mens rea insanity law during the first two years of its operation. In all of the cases the attorneys, judges, and experts seemed unaware of the new law or confused about its meaning. Examination revealed that the findings of insanity were negotiated with either ignorance of or indif...

The frequency of use of the insanity plea, the probability of being acquitted by reason of insanity given the plea has been used, and the overall volume of insanity acquittees was determined for seven states. Across the seven states, there was an inverse relationship (r = -.67) between the frequency of use and the likelihood of success. As a result, the overall volume of insanity acquittees was...

The deific-decree exception to Washington's M'Naughten insanity standard first appeared in case law a quarter century ago in State v. Crenshaw. A few subsequent cases have attempted to refine the contours of the deific decree; however, the deific-decree doctrine has had only limited utility as a basis for the insanity defense. After about a decade of no activity in this area, the Washington cou...