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INTRODUCTION



The insanity defense refers to that branch of the concept of

insanity which defines the extent to which men accused of crimes may

be relieved of criminal responsibility by virtue of mental disease.

The terms of such a defense are to be found in the instructions

presented by the trial judge to the jury at the close of a case. These

instructions can be drawn from any of several rules used in the

determination of mental illness. The final determination of mental

illness rests solely on the jury who uses information drawn from the

testimony of "expert" witnesses, usually professionals in the field of

psychology. The net result of such a determination places an

individual accordingly, be it placement in a mental facility,

incarceration, or outright release. Due to these aforementioned

factors, there are several problems raised by the existence of the

insanity defense. Problems such as the actual possibility of

determining mental illness, justifiable placement of judged "mentally

ill" offenders, and the overall usefulness of such a defense. In all,

I believe that these problems, as well as others which will be

mentioned later, lead us to the conclusion that the insanity defense

is useless and should be abolished entirely. Insanity is a legal, not

a medical definition. Therefore, mental illness and insanity are not

synonymous: only some mental illness constitutes insanity. Insanity,

however, includes not only mental illness but also mental

deficiencies. Due to this, there are problems in exactly how to apply

a medical theory to a legal matter (Herman, 1983;128). The legal

concepts of...