Insanity Defense Reform Act

Now, his reason for insanity was that, well, I might have known it was wrong, and yes, I did it, but I didn't know how wrong it was, which again prompted insane backlash.

Congress then passed the Insanity Defense Reform Act in 1984, which tightened the federal standards back closer to the McNaughton Code, which shifted the burden of proof onto the defendant at a federal level.

Unfortunately not in Massachusetts.

But that's how the whole of the system kind of developed into this defense by reason of insanity overall.

day.

Um, Directly after this case, I guess two years later, Congress passes the Insanity Defense Reform Act, which changes over to putting the burden of proof of insanity on the defense, which I'm not going to argue with that.

I do believe that it should be.

the defense that puts on the justification for an insanity plea.

But if we start saying people are not criminally responsible for their irresistible impulses, you create an exception so wide you could drive a truck through it, run over a dozen people, and then be found not guilty by reason of insanity.

This is why Congress passed the Insanity Defense Reform Act in 1984 in response to cases like John Hinckley Jr., who was found not guilty by reason of insanity, even though he methodically planned and knew it was illegal to attempt to assassinate the President of the United States.

As a result of this law, in federal cases, the burden was now on the defense to prove insanity, not the prosecution to disprove that a suspect is insane.

Now, the Catholic Church does teach that some people are less culpable for their sins even if they know what they are doing is wrong because they have a strong impulse that was difficult to control, like early adolescent temptation to engage in masturbation, for example.