Explain the insanity defense. The courts use multiple tests to determine whether a person was insane at the time of the crime. Identify and explain two of these tests

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The insanity defense examines the defendant's mental state at the time of the crime to determine if he or she is criminally responsible. The insanity defense is a legal concept, so just because someone may be medically diagnosed as insane, he or she may not succeed with an insanity defense. The text identifies five tests used to determine whether a person was insane at the time of the crime. Student should pick from the following: (1) the M'Naghten test, (2) the "irresistible impulse" test, (3) the Model Penal Code test, (4) the product test, and (5) the federal test. States can choose their own tests, combine two or more tests to suit their needs, or even have no insanity defense at all. The M'Naghten Test is an insanity test that focuses on the defendant's ability to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct based on a mental disease or defect. The irresistible impulse test is an insanity test that focuses on the defendant's ability to conform his conduct to the law. The Model Penal Code uses the following language for its insanity test: "A person is not responsible for criminal conduct if at the time of such conduct as a result of mental disease or defect he lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality [wrongfulness] of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law." The product test is an insanity test that determines whether the criminal activity is the product of a mental disease or defect. Federal law treats insanity as a defense. This definition of insanity also parallels some of the others introduced here. For example, it retains the Model Penal Code's use of the word appreciate. However, it adds the word severe to the equation, possibly making it more difficult for a federal defendant to succeed with an insanity defense.