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Dec 6, 2023

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The use of the insanity defense does have a restriction here in Ohio. The Revised code states that if a person is deemed not guilty by reason of insanity, that person is to be committed to an institution best suited to their needs (Ohio Revised Code, 2023). This restriction is a good idea because instead of this person getting put in prison with people who are of sound mind, they are getting sent to a place where their mental illness can be treated but where they are also kept from the outside world until they are better and not a risk to society. If a defense is aiming for a not guilty by reason of insanity plea, the defendant could be detained at a mental institution before the trial for up to 20 days, depending on if a continuance is requested by the judge (Ohio Revised Code, 2023). This means that instead of the defendant being placed in jail, they can be placed in a mental institution while they wait for their trial to begin, but if they hit the 10-day mark and a continuance has not been granted, they are released. This is another good idea because it allows for the defendant's behavior to be monitored and allows them to be in an area where they are not at risk of being abused in jail. The insanity plea does have a place in the courtroom because those who suffer from mental illnesses can and do have more heightened behavioral tendencies. There is a significant correlation between schizophrenia and violent tendencies (Antar, 2023), but what people do not realize is that these violent tendencies tend to happen when the schizophrenic person is having an episode. When schizophrenics have an episode, they feel threatened, so they go into fight or flight mode, so if someone is trying to attack them and they cannot find an escape, they are going to fight their way to freedom and have no recollection of their actions. This shows that the person does not have the ability to form mens rea , or the intent to commit a crime, due to their mental state (Antar, 2023). Another example is the case of Jeffrey Dahmer, who was found guilty for the murder of 17 boys and men back in 1991. Lankford & Hayes (2022) discuss how Dahmer exhibited obsessive, compulsive tendencies and how he exhibited psychopathic traits during the years of his crimes. Considering these observations could have given Dahmer a case to a possible insanity plea, where if found insane he could have been institutionalized.
Instead, Dahmer was found guilty and sent to prison where he only spent 3 years of his life before he was murdered by a fellow inmate. I am not saying that what Dahmer did was right by any means because it was so grotesquely wrong, but if there was any suspicion of mental illness, he should have been given a fair trial like everyone else and been psychologically evaluated to determine his mental state. If the insanity plea was not part of the courtroom, there would be a lot more cases where a fair trial was not in place because of this absence. This could not only impact the reputation of the court, but the reputation of the justice system as a whole. Also, in the absence of an insanity plea, I believe there would be an increase in prison deaths, whether that be from an episode of a mentally ill inmate or a sane inmate killing the mentally ill because their behaviors were an annoyance to the population inside the prison. References Antar, A. Y. (2023). Guilty or not guilty by reason of insanity? a comparative study of murderers referred for psychiatric examination by court order. Health & Justice , 11 (1), 1–14. https://doi- org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1186/s40352-023-00230-z Lankford, A., & Hayes, J. K. (2022). Could Serial Killing Actually Be Addictive? A Close Examination of Compulsion and Escalation in the Jeffrey Dahmer Case. Sexual Health & Compulsivity , 29 (3/4), 198– 224. https://doi-org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1080/26929953.2022.2126416 Ohio Revised Code. (2023). Section 2945.40- Acquittal by reason of insanity. https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-2945.40
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