Raising The Insanity Defense: A Comparison Of Rates In Jurisdictions With Differing Insanity Commitment Release Laws

• Author: Ellen Hochstedler Steury,Francis J. Rotter
• Published date: 01 December 1991
• DOI: 10.1177/088740349100500403
• Date: 01 December 1991
• Subject Matter: Articles

307-

Raising

The

Insanity

Defense:

A

Comparison

Of

Rates

In

Jurisdictions

With

Differing

Insanity

Commitment

Release

Laws*

Ellen

Hochstedler

Steury

University

of

Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Francis

J.

Rotter

University

of

Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Abstract

The

use

of

the

insanity

plea

for

felony

offenses

in

18

counties

in

various

parts

of

the

United

States

is

the

focus

of

the

study

reported

here.

Two

research

hypotheses

were

tested:

one

predicted

that

use

of

the

insanity

defense

would

be

less

frequent

in

jurisdictions

with

indeterminate

commitments

after

a

suc-

cessful

insanity

defense;

a

second

predicted

that

the

insanity

defense

would

be

used

least

frequently

for

relatively

minor

offenses

in

jurisdictions

with

indeterminate

commitments

after

acquittal

for

insanity.

Neither

hypothesis

is

supported

by

these

findings.

The

authors

conclude

that

factors

other

than

the

laws

governing

release

after

a

successful

insanity

plea

affect

the

rate

of

use.

This

research

shows

that

variation

across

study

counties

was

great,

and

that

reporting

of

statewide

rates

masks

these

large

differences.

Further,

this

study

shows

distinct

regional

variation

in

the

use

of

the

insanity

plea,

which

is

associated

with

degree

of

urbanization.

In

theory,

a

successful

insanity

defense

absolves

the

defendant

of

all

criminal

responsibility.

In

practice,

however,

a

successful

insanity

defense

often

results

in

court-ordered

institutionalization.

The

actual

disposition,

or

&dquo;time

served,&dquo;

for

a

successful

insanity

defendant

will

depend

not

only

on

the

relevant

facts

concerning

the

individual

case,

but

also

on

the

legislatively

authorized

limits

on

the

duration

of

commitment

that

might

result

from

a

successful

insanity

plea.

In

this

article,

we

examine

the

frequency

of

insanity

pleas

across

jurisdictions

that

vary

with

respect

to

the

legislatively

authorized

* The

authors

acknowledge

the

generous

assistance

of

Henry

J.

Steadman

and

Lisa

Callahan

of

Policy

Research

Associates,

Inc.,

in

making

available

to

us

data

collected

in

conjunction

with

the

Insanity

Defense

Reform

Project.

We

are

also

grateful

to

Frances

Johannes

and

Michael

Kopel

of

the

Research

Support

Office

for

their

assistance

with

managing

these

data.

The

authors

assume

all

responsibility

for

errors

in

this

paper.