ular prison because there are the added costs of drugs, doctors, guards etc. It also costs more in the sense that every year these tests have to be performed in order for the criminal to remain in the state hospital prison. Already some states have abolished the insanity defense. “Kansas followed Montana, Idaho and Utah to become the fourth state to legislatively abolish the insanity defense.” (Insanity Denied: Abolition of the Insanity Defense in Kansas, pg. 3). The insanity defense has come a long way over the years to finally face potential abolishment today, almost two hundred years later. Looking back to the many times it was almost abolished it is realized that it might really be a useless waste of time and money. Once again insanity is a legal, not a medical, definition and it is hard to relate a scientific theory to factual laws. Many of the tests used to determine insanity are just that…theory. It is impossible to replicate what exactly was going on in the mind of the criminal when they were performing their crime to determine whether they could distinguish right from wrong or whether they were acting on impulse or not. Esteemed psychologists and psychiatrists can’t even define most of the individual terms used to define these rules. How would a jury comprised of common everyday people be able to make their decision after sitting in a courtroom listening to each side give persuading facts about how they are correct? Terms like insanity and mental illness have no scientific meaning, causing the relationship between insanity, mental illness and criminal law to be uncertain. As uncertain as the relationship between mental illness and criminal behavior. The insanity defense is impractical and ultimately allows harmful criminals back on the streets, therefore it should be abolished. ...
