Wednesday, March 31, 2004

I'll Never Understand the Insanity Defense

Headline at FoxNews.com:

Mom Describes Stoning Sons on Tape
Psychiatrist says woman delusional when she killed sons with rocks

It's impossible to know a person's "state of mind" at the time he or she committed a crime. It follows that "innocent by reason of insanity" is -- pun intended -- an insane verdict.

And so what if a person was "insane" at the time he or she committed a crime? A crime was committed and, therefore, someone must be "guilty" of it. If not the "insane" person, then who, Harvey the Rabbit?