Combining the Past and a Plan The insanity plea is like trying to hold water in a fish net. Attempting to apply boundaries to something as intangible as the concept of insanity is bound to spark controversy. Challenging, yet necessary, the application of how laws should affect the mentally ill is an unavoidable issue that needs to be confronted head on. Two experts in their fields, Julie E. Grachek and Joseph Goldstein, share their opinion on the insanity plea in each of their law journal articles. Ms. Grachek writes her scholarly essay as a law student at the University of Indiana in the fall of 2006. Her article does not provide a clear diagnosis on what the issue is with the insanity plea, yet she excels when explaining her well formulated
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Grachek’s essay on how the process of the insanity plea should be revisited. Written during the fall of 2006, her article now dates back ten years. This paper was written on the brink of the supreme court case Clark v. Arizona. The Supreme Court decided in this case that Arizona had the right to severely limit the insanity defense. The timing of this journal article is relevant because it might have been a product of the supreme court’s ruling on the case. Maybe even more important than the timing of this article is its age. At about ten years old, the information in this piece could be out of date. There are no significant changes to the defense in the last 10 years, but other parts of the United States judicial system are always undergoing constant revision. If Julie’s article is considered old, then the Yale Law essay written by Mr. Goldstein is fossil. Joseph Goldstein gives insight into the origin of the insanity plea and allows for an analysis of how it has developed. Although it does a great job providing historical context, it is undeniable that the sources it relates to and the laws it refers to are significantly out of date and not current. Published after the development of the M’Naughten Rules and before the decision that the mentally ill cannot be executed, this time period was when the insanity defense was getting its full test …show more content…
The unique part about learning is that it is a journey with no end. These two articles barely even scratch the surface of truly understanding the insanity defense. Another type of source that would be great to look at for understanding this issue would be real court case transcripts. They might be tedious and hard to read, but they provide a firsthand encounter on how the plea is actually used and how it affects people. Also analyzing the code of the law would be important because it would provide a concrete definition. Although it would be concrete, the insanity defense differs for most states and the overall view from a national level would still be a little blurry. Approaching this issue form the side of mental health would also be an interesting method. Getting a better understanding of how mental illnesses are diagnosed would be important when understanding how they are persecuted in court. One of the biggest parts of the controversy of the plea is that defendants are faking an illness to receive lesser
Grachek’s essay on how the process of the insanity plea should be revisited. Written during the fall of 2006, her article now dates back ten years. This paper was written on the brink of the supreme court case Clark v. Arizona. The Supreme Court decided in this case that Arizona had the right to severely limit the insanity defense. The timing of this journal article is relevant because it might have been a product of the supreme court’s ruling on the case. Maybe even more important than the timing of this article is its age. At about ten years old, the information in this piece could be out of date. There are no significant changes to the defense in the last 10 years, but other parts of the United States judicial system are always undergoing constant revision. If Julie’s article is considered old, then the Yale Law essay written by Mr. Goldstein is fossil. Joseph Goldstein gives insight into the origin of the insanity plea and allows for an analysis of how it has developed. Although it does a great job providing historical context, it is undeniable that the sources it relates to and the laws it refers to are significantly out of date and not current. Published after the development of the M’Naughten Rules and before the decision that the mentally ill cannot be executed, this time period was when the insanity defense was getting its full test …show more content…
The unique part about learning is that it is a journey with no end. These two articles barely even scratch the surface of truly understanding the insanity defense. Another type of source that would be great to look at for understanding this issue would be real court case transcripts. They might be tedious and hard to read, but they provide a firsthand encounter on how the plea is actually used and how it affects people. Also analyzing the code of the law would be important because it would provide a concrete definition. Although it would be concrete, the insanity defense differs for most states and the overall view from a national level would still be a little blurry. Approaching this issue form the side of mental health would also be an interesting method. Getting a better understanding of how mental illnesses are diagnosed would be important when understanding how they are persecuted in court. One of the biggest parts of the controversy of the plea is that defendants are faking an illness to receive lesser