How to Know When to Plead Insanity

People have been pleading insanity in court since the 19th century. And, since the 19th century, insanity pleas have drawn harsh criticism, stark praise and fascinated the public. Whether it’s serial killer Jeffery Dahmer, political pawn Jack Ruby or man-butcherer Lorena Bobbitt, cases in which defendants plea insanity are often public spectacles. But how do we know when it is a good idea for defendants to do so?

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

1. To plead insanity, one needs to be able to show they suffered from a disease of the mind creating a defect in reason to the extent that they don’t know the magnitude of their actions or what they were doing was wrong. So basically, you get convicted unless a mental impairment caused you to believe that what you did was legally permissible. This is pretty tough to do.
2. Showing that physical consequences are not understood is another factor in an insanity plea. For example--not knowing that holding paper to a flame will cause it to burn. Like a child who mistakenly starts a fire is not usually treated as an arsonist, an "insane" person is not treated as a criminal.
3. The hope for insanity cases is that a judge will commit defendants to treatment centers until mental health officials determine they do not pose a danger to anyone. For some, this could be akin to a life sentence.

Tips & Warnings

• Most pleas of insanity are unsuccessful.
• Some states have abolished the use of an insanity defense.