Disorder in the Court
Author | : Andrea L. Alden |
Publisher | : University of Alabama Press |
Total Pages | : 208 |
Release | : 2018-08-21 |
ISBN-10 | : 9780817319724 |
ISBN-13 | : 0817319727 |
Rating | : 4/5 (24 Downloads) |
Download or read book Disorder in the Court written by Andrea L. Alden and published by University of Alabama Press. This book was released on 2018-08-21 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Both expert and lay audiences have struggled to understand and apply commonplace definitions of sanity, and the portrayal of the insanity defense in popular culture has only served to further frustrate such understandings. Andrea L. Alden argues that the problems with understanding the insanity defense are, at their foundation, rhetorical. The legal concept of what constitutes insanity and, therefore, an abdication of responsibility for one's actions does not map neatly onto the mental health professions' understandings of mental illness and how that affects an individual's ability to understand or control his or her actions. Additionally, there are multiple layers of persuasion involved in any effort to convince a judge, jury--or a public, for that matter--that a defendant is or is not responsible for his or her actions at a particular moment in time. Alden examines landmark court cases such as the trial of Daniel McNaughtan, Durham v.