INSANITY DEFENSE

Hardback. With a Foreword by Harold D. Lasswell. A book which brings into focus the insanity defence in the district of Columbia and through it the insanity defence in much of the English-speaking world. The time for reappraisal was particularly opportune, for the case of U.S. v. Brawner had confirmed suspicions that the growing lack of judicial respect for the rights of the individual was reflected in a "conservative" reaction against a liberalised insanity defence. A liberalised insanity defence had been invoked in the landmark case of Durham v. United States. In 1954 Durham declared that an act which was the product of mental disorder was not subject to punishment, and purported to put this liberalised insanity defence within reach of even the impoverished defendant. The verbal formula of the Durham rule however, was only symbolic of progress; its promise of change in the shaping of the insanity defence was belied by events. The author shows what actually happened to the Durham rule during nearly two decades of its administration and how it was largely rejected by the psychiatric profession whose cooperation as expert witnesses was essential for its success. The poor were forced to rely on mediocre and prosecution-oriented government psychiatrists, drawn from an over-crowded and understaffed government hospital, and the success of the insanity defence was dictated by a psychiatric fiat founded on considerations of a hospital housing shortage rather than pure diagnostic judgement. Only the wealthy could afford to challenge the judgement of the government psychiatrists under these circumstances. With Epilogue and Appendices. 328pp. 8vo. h/back. From the library of true crime writer, Wilfred Gregg, with his personal b/plate. V. lightly browned edges, o/w Vg+ in sl. sunned and frayed Vg. dw.