designed to protect the rights of the charged, and further the cause of justice. However, in many

cases this betterment of justice has been taken too far, and thus pleas such as “Temporary

insanity” are born. Indeed, as will be proven, the insanity defense in itself has been stretched

nearly to its breaking point. The insanity defense will be critically examined, here, and proven

in some cases necessary while others have no right using the plea.

The history of the insanity defense goes back as far as government. Yet as Thomas

Maeder stated in his book Crime and Madness, the Origins and Evolutions of the Insanity

Defense, surprisingly enough, “Throughout most of history there have been no specific criteria

for exculpatory insanity”(3). In ancient Hebrew times, as Maeder notes, the law simply states

that idiots, lunatics, and children below a given age are not to be held criminally responsible (3).

Indeed, in Ancient Greek and Roman cultures, nothing has survived to show any adaption to this

exception, save a part of Plato’s Laws (3). Platos Laws says that if a defen

and abandoned over night. From these two examples the precedent becomes clear, creativity,

Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher. “Books of the Times.” The New York Times 24 June, 24

(Maeder 4). “By the fifteenth century...If the defendant had committed the act, they had to

evil, while others asked whether the defendant “did not know what he did.” By the nineteenth

awarded family visitation, while if he were in prison he would never have got these privileges.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Platos Laws, Insanity Defense, Christopher Lehmann-haupt, Law Vol, Idaho Utah, Caucasian Americans, Ted Kennedy, insanity defense, Gordon Witkn, President100 Hinkley, William Kunstler, mad insanity, john hinckley, john hinckley jr, trial john hinckley, defense trial, drove murder, accepted insanity, “temporary insanity”, escape punishment, debate insane, insanity defense tool, defense” human events, “temporarily insane”, insanity defense trial,
Approximate Word count = 1459
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)