Insanity Defense Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Insanity Defense - Essay Example Following a brief comparative definition and discussion of each, this essay will argue in favour of ALI as the better of the three models. The M'Naughten standard came into being in 1843 and derives from the case of Daniel M'Naughten. M'Naughten, in a failed attempt to assassinate the British Prime Minister, killed his secretary (Huckabee, 2000). His reason for doing so was his belief that the Prime Minister was responsible for all of his personal misfortunes. Several witnesses testified to M'Naughten's apparent insanity and a jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity. In their review of the verdict, the House of Lords reversed it and established the M'Naughten standard which specified that a person was not guilty by reason of insanity if he/she could not distinguish between right and wrong. This rule was subsequently adopted in the United States, in some states without modification and others with modification. It is important to note that one of the primary weaknesses with the M'Naughten standard lies in its failure to account for control. Some may know that their actions are wrong but, nevertheless, are unable to control themselves. As such, some states added an "irresistible impulse" modification to the M'Naughten standard (Huckabee, 2000). The Durham test was adopted as a direct outcome of