“The insanity defense traces its history to an 1843 assassination attempt on British Prime Minister Robert Peel.” Now, about a third of the states allow a “guilty by reason of insanity” plea (Witkin, 7). Fortunately, on the contrary to popular belief, only one percent of felony cases led to a ruling of “not guilty by reason of insanity.” When a killer is ruled “not guilty by reason of insanity,” they are simply turned loose to reek havoc …showed first 75 words of 995 total…

…showed last 75 words of 995 total…get away with committing a crime with not much consequence. Works Cited Witkin, Gordon. (1998). What Does it Take to be Crazy?. U.S. News & World Report, 124, 7. Schlosser, Eric. (1998). Insanity Defense: Unconsciable Impact of Victims. USA Today Magazine, 126, 50. Brownfield, Allan, C. (1994). Defense Attorneys Mad About Insanity Defense. Human Events, 50, 10. Poulson, Ronald L. (1997). Mock Jurors Evaluation of Insanity Defense Verdict. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 12, 1065. Unknown Author. (1991). Insanity Test Revisions Miss The Mark. Science News, 39, 1-4.