fendant to prove, by “clear and convincing evidence,” that “at the time of the commission of the acts constituting the offense, the defendant, as a result of a severe mental disease or defect, was unable to appreciate the nature and quality or the wrongfulness of his acts.” It is generally viewed as a return to the “knowing right from wrong” standard. There are two different outcomes that work for the criminal in cases like these. Either “not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI)” or “diminished capacity.” These two defenses resemble each other but there exist important differences between them. “The most fundamental of those is that, while “reason of insanity” is a full defense to a crime –that is, pleading “reason of insanity” is the equivalent of pleading “not guilty” – “diminished capacity” is merely pleading to a lesser crime.” (UNABOM, pg. 1) Each one of the rules stated above was comprised to determine whether the criminal is truly mentally ill. But unfortunately many criminals are institutionalized every year after being able to slip into a loophole, finding their way out of a prison sentence. “For instance, John Hinckley convinced a jury he was insane when he tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981…Hinckley would have been found guilty. Instead, he was acquitted and committed to a mental hospital, which he has been allowed to leave on supervised visits with other patients to malls and bookstores.” (UF News) The insanity defense with its loopholes allows for people like this to escape the system where as he should have been tried for attempted manslaughter. Instead he used the diminished capacity approach, which says that the defendant is incapable of intending to cause a death, and therefore must have caused the death recklessly. And although it is agreed that...
