
People often misunderstand the term Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity. Many believe that it is simply a legal loophole or a means to escape responsibility for a crime. However, using an insanity defence is actually quite rare, and the process is much more complicated than it sounds. Furthermore, the use of an insanity defence relates to serious mental illness and not just to whether someone has a psychiatric diagnosis; in other words, the focus of these cases is not just whether a person has a psychiatric condition but rather what was happening in the mind of that person when the crime in question occurred.
The principle behind the legal system, that people can determine between right and wrong and make choices accordingly, is dependent on one’s ability to perceive and interpret their world. Some types of severe mental illness have a significant impact on an individual’s perception of … Read more



