Insanity Defense (Essay Sample)

Insanity Defense Name Institutional affiliation Date Insanity Defense Introduction Democracy ensures people get justice and equality by exercising their freedoms and rights without hindrance from the state or other individuals. However, freedom is inseparable from responsibility and accountability. Most people assume that since they have rights and freedoms they should enjoy them without considering the impacts of their actions on other people's lives and property (Torrey, 2012). This makes some of them to commit crimes thinking that they are exercising their rights. However, sometimes criminals argue that they are insane and thus should not be prosecuted. This discussion examines the use of the insanity defense by criminals and their attorneys. Definition Insanity defense refers to the use of mental instability as an excuse to relieve a suspect the burden of being prosecuted and sentenced for committing an offence (Packer, 2009). The suspect's attorney usually claims that the accused was not in a normal state of mind when he committed the crime. The court has the right to decline to prosecute a criminal for alleged crimes on grounds that he has mental problems that interfere with his reasoning; therefore, may have influenced the suspect to commit a crime without expecting or knowing what he is doing. John W. Hinckley is a beneficiary of this defense during his trial for assassinating President Ronald Reagan. His attorneys argued that he did not act on volition when he committed this crime but instead he was driven by a pathological obsession with a movie in which a president was assassinated (Bonnie, 2008). The lawyers presented medical examinations that showed part of his brain had degenerated and thus contributed to his mental instability. Even though, the prosecution contested this evidence the judge ruled in John's favor and claimed that the evidence presented was adequate and admissible (Bonnie, 2008). Therefore, insanity defense must be accompanied with mental health complications that make the suspect to commit crimes without being aware that they are breaking the law (Torrey, 2012). The medical examination report must link the mental illness with the crime co...