Insanity Defense Reform Act
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2014) |
The Insanity Defense Reform Act of 1984 (IDRA) was signed into law by President
not guilty only by reason of insanity
.
Act
The act removed the
ALI test.[2]: 615 Defendants were exculpated only if "at the time of the commission of the acts constituting the offense, ... as the result of a severe mental disease or defect, [they were] unable to appreciate the nature and quality or wrongfulness of [their] acts."[2]: 634 The law passed in the wake of public outrage after John Hinckley Jr.'s acquittal by reason of insanity in June 1982 for his attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan.[2]
: 634–635
Prior to the enactment of the law, the federal standard for "insanity" was that the government had to prove a defendant's sanity beyond a reasonable doubt (assuming the insanity defense was raised). Following the Act's enactment, the defendant has the burden of proving insanity by "
clear and convincing evidence".[3] Furthermore, expert witnesses for either side are prohibited from testifying directly as to whether the defendant was legally sane or not,[3] but can only testify as to their mental health and capacities, with the question of sanity itself to be decided by the finder-of-fact at trial.[citation needed] The Act was held to be constitutional (and the change in standards and burdens of proof are discussed) in United States v. Freeman.[3]
The Defense Reform Act was criticized by psychologist Lawrence Z. Freedman for being ineffective: "If the attacker is rational mentally, stable emotionally, and fanatic politically, he will not be deterred. Nor will an irrational, affectively disturbed individual be deterred."[4]
References
- ^ United States Department of Justice, Criminal Resource Manual, Retrieved May 7, 2018
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4548-0698-1, [1]
- ^ a b c United States v. Freeman, 804 F. 2d 1574 (11th Cir. 1986).
- JSTOR 3791182