Maryland Law Review Volume 22 | Issue 4 Article 3 Commitment After Acquittal On Grounds of Insanity M. Albert Figinski Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/mlr Part of the Criminal Procedure Commons Recommended Citation M. A. Figinski, Commitment After Acquittal On Grounds of Insanity, 22 Md. L. Rev. 293 (1962) Available at: http://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/mlr/vol22/iss4/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Academic Journals at DigitalCommons@UM Carey Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Maryland Law Review by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UM Carey Law. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. 1962] COMMITMENT AFTER ACQUITTAL 293 COMMITMENT AFTER ACQUITIAL ON GROUJND'S OF INS'ANITYt By M. ALBERT FIGINsKI* I. THE PROCEDURES OF CRIMINAL COMMITMENT GENERALLY "Jurors, in common with people in general, are aware of the meanings of verdicts of guilty and not guilty. It is common knowledge that a verdict of not guilty means that the prisoner goes free and that a verdict of guilty means that he is subject to such punishment as the court may impose. But a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity has no such commonly understood meaning."' This lack of knowledge can logically result from two factors. One, the verdict is a rare one in our society, given the state of extreme dementation required by the "right and wrong test" to acquit. Second, unlike the verdicts of guilty and not guilty which have the same meaning and effect throughout Anglo-American jurisprudence, the meaning and effect of a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity are dependent upon statutes and vary among the states.