The Insanity Plea essays

The Insanity Plea essays In the world today, there are many mentally unbalanced humans, those who cant resist certain impulses due to their mental capacity. People who cant determine right from wrong or even people who cannot control their own self. Some of these people can be classified as criminals. They have done something unacceptable to society. How are these people judged? Is it fair to hold them responsible and seek to punish them? The courts in all civilized nations have accepted that those who are insane cannot be treated the same as a sane offender. This view has resulted in what we know today as The Insanity Plea. Offenders who are truly unbalanced can be found not guilty of a crime by reason of insanity. This is left to question, what consists of a truly mentally unbalanced human? Many Americans feel sane or slightly unbalanced offenders use the plea too easily. The plea is the only fair way of justice for the mentally unbalanced, but stricter rules and regulations should be assessed t o prevent abuse of the plea. In ancient societies, a person was judged whether they committed the crime or not. You were guilty or not guilty solely on the facts of the case. In the early thirteenth century, the insanity plea became known to the world. The king would grant pardons to those who were mentally defective and they would not have to serve a prison sentence or be executed . Little was known about mental illnesses and problems arose on the degree of insanity. The English came up with a plea of absolute madness, with a successful plea the defendant would be free from all charges. Absolute madness was an extremely general rule; therefore the English common law was created. This concept, the ability to determine right from wrong, was the basic guideline in judging insanity cases. In 1843, the assassination attempt on British Prime Minister Robert Peel was the first time the insanity defense was used in a well-known politic...