s should be predicated upon moral responsibility.” Defendants who committed crimes without fully comprehending their actions, the APA suggested, should not be treated in the same manner as those who understood their actions (Bard).The insanity defense dates back to 1843. A man named Daniel McNaughtan tried to assassinate British Prime Minister Robert Peel. He attempted to kill the prime minister and successfully killed the prime ministers secretary. When brought to court he pleads not guilty by reason of insanity. He was found not guilty by reasons of insanity. The U.S criminal justice system adopted this legal procedure that now is established. The insanity plea has been used for the past one hundred and fifty years. The insanity defense finally received harsh critism from the public until the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Regan. On March 30, 1981 John Hinckley shot the president and several of his aids on live television. The whole world saw the shooting. There was no doubt that he did the shooting. On May 4, 1982, after a seven-week trail, in which a ton of psychiatrist testified for Hinckley’s defense, Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He was sent to a mental hospital in Washington D.C, where he remains today. This verdict outraged American’s, as it should have. How can a man who shoots another man on national television be given a not guilty verdict(Gado)?In 1996 television debate about the insanity defense, then Massachusetts Governor William Weld said, “Criminals should be punished regardless of their mental condition. “These people are not ‘not guilty’ by reason of insanity,” he said “There guilty”. They preformed the murder. They executed the person, and we think they should be punished.” Weld unsuccessfully tried to get Massachusetts lawmakers to abolish the insanity defense and replace it with a “guilty, but insane̶...
