Pleading guilty by reason of insanity is an interesting topic. On one hand you have a person that may or may not be in the right state of mind when the crime was committed. On the other hand you have individuals and defense attorneys that try to use this plea to get a lesser punishment. This topic has sparked many debates in and out of courtrooms decade after decade. In the last century there have been many tests developed to test a person’s sanity. These tests include the M’Naghten test, irresistible impulse test, Durham test, and American Law Institute test. Even after the development of these tests there is still criticism of the insanity defense because the law itself is based on the notion that everyone has free will (Comer, 2014,
