Most people can evaluate objective evidence and decide if a person is guilty. Con: The jury may be pushed beyond its competence The public and the court system can at least be secure that they have the right person on trial. Pro: It establishes guiltīy filing an insanity plea, the defense is implicitly conceding the core principle of the trial-that their client committed the crime they were charged with. Furthermore, it hurts future pleas that may be legitimate as juries grow cynical and view it as simply a legal ploy. Security measures are likely to be inadequate and they’ll be a threat to those who are truly mentally ill. The second is the real danger that comes from putting a hardened and sane criminal in a mental institution. The first is the genuine miscarriage of justice that took place. If a guilty person realizes there’s no other way out, what’s to stop them from pleading insanity? If they’re successful, you have a couple of problems. By allowing for the insanity defense, a jury is given the opportunity to find a middle ground and ensure the accused can no longer do harm to anyone, while also ensuring that they’re off the streets. No one wants to see a mentally ill person executed or sent into a prison population that includes genuinely hardened killers. Hinckley was also found to be insane and sent to a mental institution. The insanity defense’s most notable appearance in the United States was in the case of John Hinckley, who attempted to murder President Ronald Reagan in 1981. When the jury concluded M’Naghten was too deranged to know right from wrong, he was acquitted and sent to a mental institution rather than prison. He murdered the PM’s secretary in an assassination attempt. Daniel M’Naghten was under the delusion that he was the subject of a conspiracy by the British Prime Minister and the Pope. The insanity defense in criminal cases goes back to the mid-19th century in Great Britain. With its future hanging in the balance, what are the insanity defense pros and cons? History of the insanity defense Kansas is one of the 4 states that don’t and that ban faces a Supreme Court challenge. All but 4 states allow the insanity defense to be used in criminal proceedings.
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