The Meaning of Criminal Insanity

The Meaning of Criminal Insanity examines the persistent challenges of defining and applying the insanity defense in criminal law. The book critiques historical and contemporary approaches, from the 1843 M'Naghten case, which established a lasting but limited standard, to more modern attempts like the American Law Institute's Model Penal Code. These legal tests often rely on ambiguous phrases such as "mental disease" or "irresistible impulse," which fail to provide a clear framework for ass...