ve this problem? We have some "natural experiments" on this questio rising from some court decisions. A 1971 decision forced to reassessment of 586 inmates of Pennsylvania's Fairview State Hospital for the Criminaly Insane who were placed there under the GMI verdict. Over two-thirds were eventually released. Over the next four years, 27 percent were rearrested. Eleven percent were rearrested for violent crime. Including some others who were rehospitalized for a violent act, a total of 14.5 percent of those released proved to be dangerous. ABOLISH THE INSANITY DEFENSE Abolishing the insanity defense is easier said than done for the simple reason that the mens rea requirement remains a fundamental legal principle. The proposal that "mental condition shall not be a defense to any charge of criminal conduct" could be interpreted in one of two ways. The broader interpretation would mean that absolutly no aspect of mental condition could be taken into account. In effect, this interpretation would abolish the mens rea requirement altogether. The prosecution would not have to prove anything about the accused's mental state. This is unneccessarry. For one thing, it would wipe out the distintions that separarte first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and manslaughter. It is doubtful that anyone againt the insanity defense would choose to take this approach. So sweeping, in fact, would be it's effect, that it would probably be declared unconstitutuional. A more limited re...
