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ARTICLE |

The Insanity Defense FREE

Robert L. Marcus, MD
JAMA. 1985;253(4):510-510. doi:10.1001/jama.1985.03350280066011
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To the Editor.—  Riley and George,1 in their COMMENTARY, recommend that the special defense of insanity be reformed and not abolished. They believe that a "new test" that "focuses solely on whether a defendant, due to mental disease or defect, was unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of his or her conduct at the time of the offense" would be a solution to the problems created by the insanity defense.As a psychiatrist, I wish to state unequivocally that such a test would be impossible to apply. Any answer to such a test question must be totally arbitrary. Any meaningful understanding of the mental processes of offenders readily reveals that no criminal is able to appreciate meaningfully (ie, appreciate in a way that goes beyond mere lip service) the wrongfulness of his or her behavior. Invariably, offenders have a very large repertoire of rationalizations to justify their behavior. Whether this

REFERENCES

Riley WD, George BJ Jr:  Reform not abolition . JAMA 1984;;251:2947-2948.

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Riley WD, George BJ Jr:  Reform not abolition . JAMA 1984;;251:2947-2948.
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