A Legal Response to Colin Holmes
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Psychology of Irresistible Impulse Jess Spirer
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume 33 | Issue 6 Article 3 1943 Psychology of Irresistible Impulse Jess Spirer Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc Part of the Criminal Law Commons, Criminology Commons, and the Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons Recommended Citation Jess Spirer, Psychology of Irresistible Impulse, 33 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 457 (1942-1943) This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology by an authorized editor of Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF IRRESISTIBLE IMPULSE Jess Spirer "It is a fundamental principle of the criminal law that every" crime, either common law or statutory, with the exception of public nuisances and breaches of what are commonly called police regula- tions, includes a mental element.' 2 We know this mental element by diverse names,-mens rea, criminal intent, vicious will, guilty mind, and so forth-but its most important characteristic is a wilfulness to commit the crime or act in question. And when this wilfulness or volition is actually or constructively absent, there is generally no crime. Of the several conditions which negative the element of volition or criminal intent, probably the best known is that of insanity. In the case of the grossly insane, the standards of responsibility seem to be fairly well defined, for as a general rule the law holds that if the misdoer does not know right from wrong with respect to his particular act, then he is not to be held accountable for what he has done. -
Criminal Law
Part A Bar Examinations 2015 Criminal Law Subject Coordinator: Dr S. Chandra Mohan School of Law, Singapore Management University Singapore Institute of Legal Education Part A Bar Examinations 2015 SINGAPORE INSTITUTE OF LEGAL EDUCATION Part A Bar Examinations 2015 Criminal Law (Version: 14 May 2015) INTRODUCTION The Part A Bar Examination in Criminal Law is designed to test whether overseas law graduates have obtained sufficient knowledge of the fundamental principles of criminal law in Singapore and understand how these are applied within Singapore’s criminal justice system. It is important that students keep in mind the relevant local legislative provisions and the court decisions that have interpreted these provisions (see the detailed Reading List). Singapore’s criminal law is codified and is principally contained in the Penal Code which was enacted in 1870. It is based on the Indian Penal Code and its provisions are not always similar to the English Criminal Law which its drafter, Lord Macaulay, sought to improve. Two core values of such a written Code that students must bear in mind are accessibility of the penal provisions and comprehensibility so that the layman can obtain and understand the law better. The use of ‘explanations’ and ‘illustrations’ in the sections, which give examples of the application of the provisions, are unique to the Penal Code. As the Penal Codes of India and Malaysia are similar to our Code, cases from these jurisdictions are of persuasive value in interpreting identical provisions. There are other statutes which provide for specific offences such as the Misuse of Drugs Act and the Prevention of Corruption Act. -
In8anitydefense
If you have issues viewing or accessing this file contact us at NCJRS.gov. -----= \\ ... .' . HISTORY OF ~~E j' IN8ANITYDEFENSE IN N~ YOR~ sTkrE New Yor)c State l,ibrary Legisl~tive and Governmental Service~ Cultural Education Center , Albany, New York 12230 tj \ \ I" Telephone; (518) 474-3940 -~-------~--------------------- ~--.~ --_.- --------- t .. ;1 HISTORY OF THE INSANITY DEFENSE '.\ IN NHf YORK STATE S-3 by Robert Allan Carter Senior Librarian : , U.S. Department of Justice 89955 August 1982 Nat/onallnstitute of Justice Research Completed February 1982 This document has been reproduced exactly as received fro th ine~~fn ~r organization originating it. Points of view or opinions ~ate~ s ocumen~ ~re those of the authors and do not necossaril ~~~~~~~nt the official position or policies of the National Institute J Permission to reproduce this copyrighted material has been granted by __ , History~ Of Tnsani ty Defense Carter to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS). "·0(.; o 1'. ,. ~~~~~rt~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~e of the NCJRS system';equ/res perm/s- The state Education ,Department does not discrim2nate'on the basis of age, c910r, creed, -disabi.1ity, marital status, veteran statu~, nationa1qrigin, race Or sexl\ _If. This policy is incompliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of. 1972. , 'I Leg is 1at i ve arid Governmenta 1 Serv ices ;, ~ The New York State library "'~, = ~ p, -- - 1 - On January 20, 1843, Oaniel M1Naghten, while attempting to assassinate the English Prime Minister, Sir Robert P~el, instead shot and mortally wounded the Prime Minister's private sec.F-'c:tary, Edward Drummond. At his trial M'Naghten was found not guilty by reason of insanity. -
Criminal Justice: an Overview of the System
Criminal Justice: An Overview of the System Module 3: Criminal Law 3.4: Legal Defenses Coercion: The practice (usually criminal) of using force or the threat of force to gain compliance. Deadly Force: An amount of force likely to cause serious bodily injury or death if used against a person. Duress: A legal defense available to a person who does something against their will under threat of harm. Entrapment: A type of criminal defense where the accused claims that they would not have done the criminal act if it were not for substantial encouragement by police. Excuse: A type of criminal defense where the accused admits to the criminal act, but maintains that they are not blameworthy because of extenuating circumstances. Imminent Danger: A potential harm that is likely to occur at any moment. Insanity Defense: A criminal defense based on the idea that a person who commits a crime because of a mental disease or defect is not culpable. Involuntary Intoxication: A criminal defense based on the logic that the defendant should not be held liable because he or she acted criminally due to an intoxication that the defendant did not cause. Irresistible Impulse Test: An insanity defense test that asks if the defendant could or could not control his or her actions. Justification: A legal defense based on a claim that the act, while usually criminal, was right under the particular circumstances. Lesser of Two Evils Defense: A legal defense based on the idea that a small harm can sometimes be necessary to prevent a greater harm from occurring; another name for the necessity defense. -
The Origins of the Homicide Act 1957
Journal ofmedical ethics, 1986, 12, 8-12 J Med Ethics: first published as 10.1136/jme.12.1.8 on 1 March 1986. Downloaded from Forensic psychiatry symposium The origins of the Homicide Act 1957 J Higgins Regional Forensic Psychiatry Service, Liverpool Editor's note were certain serious wrongs, amongst them murder, which were 'botless', that is they could not be expiated Thispaper traces the history ofthe concepts ofinsanity and by compensation but had to be punished by death and diminished responsibility in English law. Insanity as a forfeiture ofproperty. Nevertheless for both groups of defence in Law has two components, and these two offences, botless and non-botless, there was no components developed quite separately. The idea that an assessment of culpability or responsibility - a sort of insane person may not know what he or she is doing when strict liability operated. It appears that the mentally he or she commits an offence, and isfor this reason not abnormal offender's family would have to pay guilty, goes back to the thirteenth century. The other compensation for any act done by him, including component, which developed in the seventeenth century, homicide, and thereafter take care of him - 'an insane was known as the 'right-wrong test'. According to this a person should be guarded and treated leniently by his person who commits an offence may be not guilty on the parents'. copyright. grounds that he does not know that what he is doing is wrong. The conceptofdiminished responsibility originated in the middle ofthe nineteenth century and was developed The twelfth to the eighteenth centuries in Scottish law. -
A Comparison of R. V. Stone with R. V. Parks: Two Cases of Automatism
ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY A Comparison of R. v. Stone with R. v. Parks: Two Cases of Automatism Graham D. Glancy, MB, ChB, John M. Bradford, MB, ChB, and Larissa Fedak, BPE, MSc, LLB J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 30:541–7, 2002 Both the medical and legal professions recognize that The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Dis- some criminal actions take place in the absence of orders, fourth edition (DMS-IV),3 does not define consciousness and intent, thereby inferring that these automatism, although it does include several diag- actions are less culpable. However, experts enter a noses, such as delirium or parasomnias, that could be legal quagmire when medical expert evidence at- the basis for automatism. tempts to find some common meaning for the terms The seminal legal definition is that of Lord Den- “automatism” and “unconsciousness.” ning in Bratty v. A-G for Northern Ireland: 1 The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines autom- . .an act which is done by the muscles without any control by atism as “Involuntary action. (Psych) action per- the mind, such as a spasm, a reflex action, or a convulsion; or an formed unconsciously or subconsciously.” This act done by a person who is not conscious of what he is doing, seems precise and simple until we attempt to de- such as an act done while suffering from concussion or while 4 fine unconscious or subconscious. Fenwick2 notes sleepwalking. that consciousness is layered and that these layers This was developed by Canadian courts in R. v. Ra- largely depend on subjective behavior that is ill de- bey: fined. -
Brief for the United States As Amicus Curiae Supporting Respondent
No. 18-6135 In the Supreme Court of the United States JAMES K. KAHLER, PETITIONER v. KANSAS (CAPITAL CASE) ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF KANSAS BRIEF FOR THE UNITED STATES AS AMICUS CURIAE SUPPORTING RESPONDENT NOEL J. FRANCISCO Solicitor General Counsel of Record BRIAN A. BENCZKOWSKI Assistant Attorney General ERIC J. FEIGIN ELIZABETH B. PRELOGAR Assistants to the Solicitor General CHRISTOPHER J. SMITH Attorney Department of Justice Washington, D.C. 20530-0001 [email protected] (202) 514-2217 CAPITAL CASE QUESTION PRESENTED Whether the Constitution permits States to treat mental illness as an excuse for criminal conduct only when it creates reasonable doubt as to the defendant’s criminal mens rea, or instead mandates an insanity test that focuses on whether the defendant appreciated the wrongfulness of his conduct. (I) TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Interest of the United States....................................................... 1 Statement ...................................................................................... 2 Summary of argument ................................................................. 6 Argument ....................................................................................... 8 I. No substantive due process right forecloses Kansas’s mens rea approach to insanity claims ........... 9 A. Kansas’s approach reflects its broad discretion to delineate the circumstances in which mental illness excuses criminal conduct .............................. 9 B. The Due Process Clause neither forecloses -
A New Homicide Act for England and Wales?
The Law Commission Consultation Paper No 177 (Overview) A NEW HOMICIDE ACT FOR ENGLAND AND WALES? An Overview The Law Commission was set up by section 1 of the Law Commissions Act 1965 for the purpose of promoting the reform of the law. The Law Commissioners are: The Honourable Mr Justice Toulson, Chairman Professor Hugh Beale QC, FBA Mr Stuart Bridge Dr Jeremy Horder Professor Martin Partington CBE The Chief Executive of the Law Commission is Steve Humphreys and its offices are at Conquest House, 37-38 John Street, Theobalds Road, London WC1N 2BQ. This overview, completed on 28 November 2005, is circulated for comment and criticism only. It does not represent the final views of the Law Commission. For those who are interested in a fuller discussion of the law and the Law Commission's proposals, our formal consultation paper is accessible from http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/murder.htm, or you can order a hard copy from TSO (www.tso.co.uk). The Law Commission would be grateful for comments on its proposals before 13 April 2006. Comments may be sent either – By post to: David Hughes Law Commission Conquest House 37-38 John Street Theobalds Road London WC1N 2BQ Tel: 020-7453-1212 Fax: 020-7453-1297 By email to: [email protected] It would be helpful if, where possible, comments sent by post could also be sent on disk, or by email to the above address, in any commonly used format. All responses will be treated as public documents in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and may be made available to third parties. -
Noffsinger HANDOUT Ohio Public Defenders 6.13.17
Criminal Law and Psychiatry June 21 & 23, 2017 Everything you always wanted to Agenda know about • Competence to • Involuntary Stand Trial Treatment Criminal Law and Psychiatry* • Other Criminal • Mental Health Competencies Courts • Insanity Defense • Assisted Outpatient *BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK • Civil Commitment Treatment • Juvenile • Attacking Mental Stephen Noffsinger, M.D. Competency Health Expert • Mitigation Testimony Pre-Test 1 Pre-Test 2 A defendant who is Incompetent to A psychotic defendant who is Stand Trial for Aggravated Murder Incompetent to Stand Trial for may have the charges dropped, Aggravated Murder may refuse based on his incompetency. antipsychotic medication. A. True A. True B. False B. False Pre-Test 3 Pre-Test 4 A defendant who is Incompetent to Stand Trial and fails competency Defendants acquitted by reason of restoration may still proceed to a insanity for Murder are released into trial. society. A. True A.True B. False B.False Stephen Noffsinger, M.D. 1 Criminal Law and Psychiatry June 21 & 23, 2017 Pre-Test 6 Pre-Test 5 A defendant found NGRI on a Grand John was found NGRI twenty years Theft Motor Vehicle charge will ago on a Murder charge. John can remain under the jurisdiction of the only be committed if he is presently trial court for the remainder of his mentally ill and dangerous. life. A.True A.True B.False B.False Generic Definition of Competence Competence to Stand Trial • The capacity to understand a concept and rationally proceed through a decision- making process • Competence is the quality of the thought process involved, not just the eventual decision Generic Definition of United States Constitution Competence Competence to stand trial guaranteed by: • Competence is a present-state evaluation • Fourteenth Amendment – Substantive Due • Mental illness does not necessarily = Process Incompetence • Sixth Amendment Stephen Noffsinger, M.D. -
Motus Animi in Mente Insana: an Emotion-Oriented Paradigm of Legal Insanity Informed by the Neuroscience of Moral Judgments and Decision-Making, 109 J
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume 109 | Issue 1 Article 1 Winter 2019 Motus Animi in Mente Insana: An Emotion- Oriented Paradigm of Legal Insanity Informed by the Neuroscience of Moral Judgments and Decision-Making Federica Coppola Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc Part of the Criminal Law Commons Recommended Citation Federica Coppola, Motus Animi in Mente Insana: An Emotion-Oriented Paradigm of Legal Insanity Informed by the Neuroscience of Moral Judgments and Decision-Making, 109 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 1 (2019). https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc/vol109/iss1/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology by an authorized editor of Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Scholarly Commons. 0091-4169/19/10901-0001 THE JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL LAW & CRIMINOLOGY Vol. 109, No. 1 Copyright © 2019 by Federica Coppola Printed in U.S.A. CRIMINAL LAW MOTUS ANIMI IN MENTE INSANA: AN EMOTION-ORIENTED PARADIGM OF LEGAL INSANITY INFORMED BY THE NEUROSCIENCE OF MORAL JUDGMENTS AND DECISION-MAKING FEDERICA COPPOLA* Legal insanity is deeply rooted in an intellectualistic conception of the capacity for moral rationality. The vast majority of insanity standards essentially consider the integrity of the defendant’s cognitive faculties at the time of the offense. However, the cognitivist model of legal insanity collides with the body of neuroscientific and behavioral literature about the critical role of emotions in moral judgments and decision-making processes. Drawing upon this scientific knowledge, this Article reforms the intellectualistic substance of the capacity for moral rationality that underlies the insanity doctrine by including emotions in its relevant psychological set. -
Irresistible Impulse As a Defense in the Criminal Law
[Vol. 100 IRRESISTIBLE IMPULSE AS A DEFENSE IN THE CRIMINAL LAW By EDWIN R. KEEDY t I One of the most controversial questions in the field of Criminal Law is whether an irresistible impulse, produced by mental disease, should be a defense to a charge of crime. Statutes, court decisions and the opinions of writers are in direct conflict. The authors of two rather recent publications in England discuss the problem. Edward Robinson in a volume entitled Just Murder presents legal and medical arguments in favor of an affirmative answer to the question.' The con- trary position is taken by G. Ellenbogen in an article in the Journal of Criminal Science, published at Cambridge University.2 In the in- vestigation conducted during the years 1949 and 1950 by the Royal Commission on Capital Punishment testimony was received from mem- bers of the medical and legal professions on the question whether ir- resistible impulse should be allowed as a defense.3 The purpose of this article is to present a statement of the law on the subject and to evaluate the reasons that have been advanced for and against allowing the defense. In 1838 Dr. Isaac Ray, a distinguished physician, published in Boston a treatise on the Medical Jurisprudence of Insanity. In dis- cussing the criminal responsibility of the insane he stated the follow- t A. B., 1899, Franklin and Marshall College; LL. B., 1906, Harvard University; LL. D., 1926, Franklin and Marshall College, 1950, University of Pennsylvania; Professor of Law Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania; Dean, University of Penn- sylvania Law School 1940-1945; author of The Decline of Traditionalism and In- dividualism, 65 U. -
Canadian Insanity Defence Reform : Capturing a New Spirit of Mcnaughtan
CANADIAN INSANITY DEFENCE REFORM: CAJX"I'R1NGA NEW SPIRIT OF MCNAUGHTAN. Cheryl S. Angelomatis B.A., Simon Fraser University, 1981 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS (CRIMINOLOGY) in the Department of Criminology 0 Cheryl S. Angelomatis 1983 Ib SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY October, 1983 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL Name: Cheryl S. Angelomatis Degree: MASTER OF ARTS (CRIMINOLOGY) Title of thesis: CANADIAN INSANITY DEFENCE REFORM: CAPTURING A NEW SPIRIT OF McNAUGHTAN. Examining Committee: -. ,/John W. Ekstedt Chairperson, Associate ~rdfesbor,Crkinology Simon N. vep- ones Senior Supe isor, Associate Professor, Criminology - Ib - - - Duncan Chappell, Progessor, CripinoTogy ~ki-1Boyd I Associate ~rofe!&sor,Criminology - - Yudi th Osborne, External Examiner, Instructor, Criminology Date Approved: November 21, 1983 PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE I hereby grant to Simon Fraser University the right to lend my thesis, project or extended essay (the title of which is shown below) to users of the Simon Fraser University L ibrary, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or othar educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copy i ng or publication of this work for financ ial gain shall no-i be a I lowed without my written permission.