ATTACKS ON THE INSANITY DEFENSE Essays - Criminal Defenses

ATTACKS ON THE INSANITY DEFENSE Essays - Criminal Defenses ATTACKS ON THE INSANITY DEFENSE The insanity defense refers to that branch of the concept of insanity which defines the extent to which men accused of crimes may be relieved of criminal responsibility by virtue of mental disease. The terms of such a defense are to be found in the instructions presented by the trial judge to the jury at the close of a case. These instructions can be drawn from any of several rules used in the determination of mental illness. The final determination of mental illness rests solely on the jury who uses information drawn from the testimony of "expert" witnesses, usually professionals in the field of psychology. The net result of such a determination places an individual accordingly, be it placement in a mental facility, incarceration, or outright release. Due to these aforementioned factors, there are several problems raised by the existence of the insanity defense. Problems such as the actual possibility of determining mental illness, justifiable placement of judged "mentally ill" offe nders, and the overall usefulness of such a defense. In all, I believe that these problems, as well as others which will be mentioned later, lead us to the conclusion that the insanity defense is useless and should be abolished entirely. Insanity is a legal, not a medical definition. Therefore, mental illness and insanity are not synonymous: only some mental illness constitutes insanity. Insanity, however, includes not only mental illness but also mental deficiencies. Due to this, there are problems in exactly how to apply a medical theory to a legal matter (Herman, 1983;128). The legal concepts of mental illness and insanity raise questions in a conflict between what are termed legalistic criminology and scientific criminology: mens rea, punishment v. treatment, responsibility, and prisons v. hospitals. This debate seesaws to and fro amidst a grey area between law and science. The major difficulty with a theory such as mental illness is that it is just that, a theory. To scientists theories are a way of life, but applied to the concept of law theories become somewhat dangerous. By applying a loose theory such as mental illness to law we are in essence throwing the proverbial "monkey wrench" into the wheels of justic e. TESTING FOR INSANITY At the center of the legal use of insanity lies the mens rea. Every crime involves a physical act, or actus reus, and a mental act, or mens rea, the non-physical cause of behavior. The mens rea is the mental element required for a crime, and if absent excuses the defendant from criminal responsibility and punishment (Jeffery, 1985;49). The difficulty here lies in analyzing the mens rea. In order to do this lawyers apply one of several rules used by psychologists. These rules range from the Irresistible Impulse Test to the M'Naghten Rule. Each of these rules approach mental illness/capacity in a different way and in my opinion each falls short of actual proof. I will discuss each in detail. The M'Naghten Rule The M'Naghten Rule, also known as the right-wrong test, arose in 1843 during the trial of Daniel M'Naghten who argued that he was not criminally responsible for his actions because he suffered from delusions at the time of the killing. The M'Naghten Rule reads: A defendant may be excused from criminal responsibility if at the time of the commission of the act the party accused was laboring under such a defect of reason, from a disease of the mind, as not to know the nature and the quality of the act he was doing, or if he did know it, that he did not know that he was doing what was wrong. Thus, according to the rule, a person is basically insane if he or she is unable to distinguish between right and wrong as a result of some mental disability. Criticism of the M'Naghten Rule has come from both legal and medical professions. Many criticize that the test is unsound in its view of human psychology. Psychiatry, it is argued, views the human personality as an integrated entity, not divisible into separate compartments of reason, emotion, or volition (Herman, 1983;138). Additionally, the test is criticized for defining responsibility solely in terms of cognition. While cognitive symptoms may reveal disorder, they alone are not

Definition and Examples of a Polar Bond in Chemistry

Definition and Examples of a Polar Bond in Chemistry Chemical bonds may be classified as being either polar or nonpolar. The difference is how the electrons in the bond are arranged. Polar Bond Definition A polar bond is a covalent bond between two atoms where the electrons forming the bond are unequally distributed. This causes the molecule to have a slight electrical dipole moment where one end is slightly positive and the other is slightly negative. The charge of the electric dipoles is less than a full unit charge, so they are considered partial charges and denoted by delta plus (ÃŽ ´) and delta minus (ÃŽ ´-). Because positive and negative charges are separated in the bond, molecules with polar covalent bonds interact with dipoles in other molecules. This produces dipole-dipole intermolecular forces between the molecules.Polar bonds are the dividing line between pure covalent bonding and pure ionic bonding. Pure covalent bonds (nonpolar covalent bonds) share electron pairs equally between atoms. Technically, nonpolar bonding only occurs when the atoms are identical to each other (e.g., H2 gas), but chemists consider any bond between atoms with a difference in electronegativity les s than 0.4 to be a nonpolar covalent bond. Carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) are nonpolar molecules. In ionic bonds, the electrons in the bond are essentially donated to one atom by the other (e.g., NaCl). Ionic bonds form between atoms when the electronegativity difference between them is greater than 1.7. Technically ionic bonds are completely polar bonds, so the terminology can be confusing. Just remember a polar bond refers to a type of covalent bond where electrons arent equally shared and electronegativity values are slightly different. Polar covalent bonds form between atoms with an electronegativity difference between 0.4 and 1.7. Examples of Molecules with Polar Covalent Bonds Water (H2O) is a polar bonded molecule. The electronegativity value of oxygen is 3.44, while the electronegativity of hydrogen is 2.20. The inequality in electron distribution accounts for the bent shape of the molecule. The oxygen side of the molecule has a net negative charge, while the two hydrogen atoms (on the other side) have a net positive charge. Hydrogen fluoride (HF) is another example of a molecule that has a polar covalent bond. Fluorine is the more electronegative atom, so the electrons in the bond are more closely associated with the fluorine atom than with the hydrogen atom. A dipole forms with the fluorine side having a net negative charge and the hydrogen side having a net positive charge. Hydrogen fluoride is a linear molecule because there are only two atoms, so no other geometry is possible. The ammonia molecule (NH3) has polar covalent bonds between the nitrogen and hydrogen atoms. The dipole is such that the nitrogen atom is more negatively charged, with the three hydrogen atoms all on one side of the nitrogen atom with a positive charge. Which Elements Form Polar Bonds? Polar covalent bonds form between two nonmetal atoms that have sufficiently different electronegativities from each other. Because the electronegativity values are slightly different, the bonding electron pair isnt equally shared between the atoms. For example, polar covalent bonds typically form between hydrogen and any other nonmetal. The electronegativity value between metals and nonmetals is large, so they form ionic bonds with each other.