Insanity defense

I want to clarify when I say the Canadian criminal justice system ‘punishes’ rather than helps the mentally ill I do not wholly mean directly punishes the mentally ill. I am going to talk about how lack of resources and proposed solutions indirectly punishes the mentally ill. When a mentally ill person gets involved with the criminal justice system there is some expectation that the criminal justice system will have ideas and resources on how to approach a situation with a mentally ill person.…

Sane Enough to Die Imagine a state of paranoia so great that it starts to seem as if one’s own thoughts are not their own, or auditory and visual hallucinations that continuously speak of the inferiority of the masses, creating an intense sense of superiority in oneself. Such experiences are just a few of the possible symptoms of schizophrenia, a fairly well recognized psychological disorder present in today’s society. Psychological disorders are an incredibly real issue in the modern world…

Frozen Blooded Murder Insanity is defined as being in the state of mental illness, madness, or lacking the ability to fully understand right from wrong. When used in the courtroom, many defendants and criminals plead not guilty by reason of insanity, which is often misused, making it hard to differentiate the truly innocent ones, and the real criminals. Roald Dahl’s short story, “Lamb to the Slaughter” is a great representation of the insanity plea. The main character Mary Maloney kills her…

“Lamb to the Slaughter”, a short story written by the celebrated author Roald Dahl, is a story that follows Mary Maloney, a pregnant housewife who had recently found out her husband, a chief detective, was going to leave her. Out of desperation, Mary murders her husband with a frozen leg of lamb and then concealing her wrongdoing and discarding the murder weapon by encouraging the policemen who were investigating the murder to eat it. The most salient idea the author explores is the betrayal;…

Many people think of psychopaths as only men, however women can be psychopaths too. The ratio of men to women has been as high as twenty to one. Alexa Steele is the author of the murder mystery, The Forgotten Girls. This novel takes place in Greenvale, New York, a luxurious town with a killer on the loose. It is up to Bella DeFranco and her partner Mack to solve the murder and put their unknown subject away for good. Dr. Weber, in the Forgotten Girls by Alexa Steele, is a suspicious character…

First, not guilty by reason of insanity, not being responsible for an offense when they had a mental disorder at the time of their criminal act. Second, mentally ill offenders are incompetent to stand trial. Third, they are mentally disordered sex offenders. And fourth, the phrase mentally…

The moment we are no longer in control of our behavior can we really blame our brain anatomy and chemistry. The thoughts you have running in the back of your mind, good or bad have the chance to come out only if you let it. As to the extent of how far your actions take you, it can be the deciding factor of going to jail. I strongly believe that if you are unaware of your actions because of a serious illness you shouldn’t be accused of any wrongdoing. Furthermore, if it is found that you have no…

The case of Andrea Yates is one of the most infamous cases in the last decade and the reason for that is because Andrea’s mental state leading up to the murders. Andrea Yates in 2001 drowned all five of her children in a bathtub in her Huston, Texas home. However, was she responsible for her actions? Andrea suffered from several mental illnesses including postpartum depression. She was constantly in and out of mental health institutions and was given medication to deal with her depression.…

Individuals diagnosed (currently or formerly) with mental illness often face many difficulties in life such as, prejudice and stigmas. Mental illness is still seen as a sign of weakness despite of all the knowledge known about it (Byrne, 2000). Stigma is a term with Greek origins. Stigmas are a sign of disgrace that makes a person different from other people (Schaefer, 2004). The Greeks cut or burned the skin of a person with a stigma to show that they are a blemished, and should be avoided at…

believe that you have killed an elderly man. We both know that you have a disease, and I believe you may have insanity. Nevertheless, as your attorney, I know that what you have done could result in prison. In fact, some people are executed for actions similar to yours. I know that you don’t consider yourself insane. However, it will be in your best interest to plead guilty under insanity as it will lower potential jail time and prevent execution. To prove you are insane, you must present a…