Insanity and the Supreme Court (Today first cases of term)

Wall Street Journal ^ | October 6 | Stephen J. Morse and Richard J. Bonnie

[PghBaldy]

James Kraig Kahler intentionally shot and killed his wife, their two teenage daughters and Mrs. Kahler’s grandmother in 2009. Now he’s going to the Supreme Court. At his Kansas trial, the defense psychiatrist testified that Mr. Kahler had lost touch with reality due to a serious mental disorder. But the defendant couldn’t offer an insanity defense, because Kansas passed a law abolishing it in 1995.

Some form of an insanity defense has been part of English law since the late Middle Ages.

[PghBaldy]

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES GRANTED & NOTED LIST OCTOBER TERM 2019 CASES FOR ARGUMENT

Three arguments for today:

18-801 CFX PETER V. NANTKWEST, INC. Court: USCA-Fed.

18-5924 CSY RAMOS V. LOUISIANA Court: CA-LA, 4th Cir.

18-6135 CSY KAHLER V. KANSAS Court: SC-KS

https://www.supremecourt.gov/grantednotedlist/19grantednotedlist

[from occupied ga]

I guess you’re not as dead if you’re murdered by a crazy person as you would be if you were murdered by a sane person. It seems to me that the action should be judged on its merits not on the conversations the murderer has with his dog or the voices in his head.

[kingu]

I'd like to hear an explanation of how someone who murders multiple people could possibly be sane. Murder is almost always an irrational action.

The common law excuse for insanity was almost always aimed at minor crimes. To apply it to major crimes - well, you end up in situations like this where a legislature acts rationally to remove it as an excuse in capital crimes and it is before SCOTUS.

[VanShuyten]

“ Some form of an insanity defense has been part of English law since the late Middle Ages.”

Misleading statement. Many states have a “guilty, but insane” provision that finds the person guilty, but remanded to a Psychiatric ward until/if the perp is sane enough to go to prison.

[jazminerose]

This is a much more accurate statement.

And the bar for an insanity defense has always been very high.

There are those among us who are mentally to the point where they truly cannot be culpable. If not for the libtards who created the ACLU and its ilk, those unfortunate people would not be living outside of locked units.

The percentage of the mentally ill who are a threat is actually quite small.

Until you through drugs into the mix.