Present Insanity-From the Common Law to the Mental Health Act and Back. The insanity defense lies at the cutting edge between the criminal law. Cameron, 907 F.2d 1051, 1063-66 (11th Cir. A defense asserted by an accused in a criminal prosecution to avoid liability for the commission of a crime because, at the time of the. states have revised, or are currently revising, their criminal laws on this. The defense actually plays a valuable role in the current judicial system, and. This provision does not necessarily bar, however, the use of psychiatric testimony to negate specific intent, where specific intent is an element of the crime. The explicit provision that mental disease or defect does not otherwise constitute a defense is intended to ensure that the requirements of the standard are not circumvented in the guise of showing some other affirmative defense such as 'diminished capacity.' Id. This standard was intended to incorporate the conclusion of the case law that voluntary use of alcohol and drugs, even if they render the defendant unable to appreciate the nature and quality of the act, does not constitute insanity or any other legally valid affirmative defense. It also requires that the mental disease or defect be 'severe.' This concept was added as a committee amendment 'to emphasize that non-psychotic behavior disorders or neurosis such as an 'inadequate personality, immature personality, or a pattern of antisocial tendencies do not constitute the defense.' See S.Rep. This prong is sometimes referred to as the volitional prong of the insanity defense. First, a person is not responsible for his criminal conduct if he could not conform his conduct to the requirements of the law due to mental illness.

This defense is currently codified by the American Law Institute. The insanity defense in its modern form contains two prongs. This is contrasted with an excuse of provocation, in which the defendant is. The current standard eliminates entirely the volitional prong of the cognitive/volitional test of the ALI Model Penal Code, the capacity to conform conduct to the requirements of the law. The insanity defense exists to make that distinction for people with a mental disability. The insanity defense, also known as the mental disorder defense, is an affirmative defense by excuse in a criminal case, arguing that the defendant is not responsible for their actions due to an episodic or persistent psychiatric disease at the time of the criminal act. Recent efforts to modify insanity defense laws have taken several forms. Mental disease or defect does not otherwise constitute a defense. 2 See Halpern, The Fiction of Legal Insanity and the Misuse of Psychiatry. AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE - It is an affirmative defense under any Federal statute that, at the time of the commission of the acts constituting the offense, the defendant, as a result of a severe mental disease or defect, was unable to appreciate the nature and quality or the wrongfulness of his acts.1986) (Ex Post Facto Clause bars application of the new statutory test and burden of proof to prior acts).

The present statutory test was signed into law as part of the Insanity Defense Reform Act of 1984 on October 12, 1984, and is applicable to offenses committed after that date.

Current instanity defense law