Argumentative Essay On The Insanity Defense

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The insanity defense has been a topic of discussion for many years now. Since its initial appearance in 1581, it was just a simple ‘the defendant isn’t guilty because he did not understand the nature of the crime he commited.’With a majority of the cases that have been unsuccessful, there wasn’t any way to prove if they were actually insane when they commited the crime and an expert in the mental health field wasn’t there to testify their testimony. Almost all of the few that have been proven to be not guilty by insanity had a professional to testify their claim to be true. Having those people in the courtroom during the trial can help identify if the accused is actually ill by the law’s description and help those who actually are have a chance for a fair sentencing to get the help they need rather than not be and have someone who is pretending to be ill get the sentence that isn’t fit for them. …show more content…

The English legal treatise stated that “‘If a madman or a natural fool, or a lunatic in the time of his lunacy’ kills someone, they cannot be held accountable (FindLaw, 20181).” Now, with a more developed justice system, there are multiple tests to identify if the defendant is actually insane or mentally ill. Some of the more prominent ways to prove or disprove the allegation are the Irresistible Impulse Test, the M’Naghten Rule, the Durham Rule, and the Model Penal Code. The Irresistible Impulse Test was established in 1887 during the Parson v. State trial in response to disagreement with the M’Naghten rule. Its purpose is to prove the defendant's existence of mental illness and that was the cause of the person's inability to control their actions or conform their conduct to the

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