Are lesser penalties needed for those who have mental illness? This question is raised in Of Mice and Men when Lennie snaps Curley’s Wife neck after Lennie pets her hair and she struggles. In the case of Lennie and many others with mental illness, the crimes they commit require lesser penalties. In the article, Is there a need for the Insanity Defense? , it states that “When a person is so mentally disturbed that her irrationality or compulsion is impossible to control, that person lacks responsibility as a moral agent. It would be unfair to punish a person in such an extreme condition” (Ferguson). When a person is unable to understand their actions and why society is displeased with their actions normal reactions are ineffective. The person
