Criminal Insanity : Conflicting Intuitions

Abstract

This paper's focus is upon the history, and contemporary use, of the "Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity" plea (alternatively known as "Not Guilty By Reason of Mental Disease Or Defect" in some jurisdictions) in the Anglo-American criminal justice system. In the USA, this plea has a varied geographical distribution, and there have been some quite notorious instances of its deployment. – I discuss one these in some depth: the Andrea Yates case.