The insanity test a jurisdiction adopts changes plea rates and acquittal outcomes
Evidence
For example, a New Jersey study found successful NGRI pleas in far less than 1 percent of all criminal cases. But researchers have found that the test used for determining insanity affects both the frequency of insanity pleas and their success, so apparently jurors do attempt to apply the standard outlined by judges in their instructions to the jury. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1896
Categorization
- XREF: Ties directly to the course theme that doctrine and jury instructions shape legal outcomes rather than merely describing them. — connects to: The ALI standard blends cognitive and volitional criteria for insanity. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1891; Insanity acquittals rarely shorten confinement and often extend it for lesser crimes — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1898; Shifting the insanity burden onto defendants narrowed who qualifies for acquittal — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1893 (+5 more)
- QUESTION: Worth chasing whether the effect runs through juror comprehension of instructions or through attorney plea bargaining under each standard.
Broader Connections
- Legal standards for insanity measurably shape both plea frequency and outcomes.
#corroborates(1.00) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1896 - Psychiatric diagnoses gain legal power when jurors accept their underlying medical metatheory
#complicates(0.90) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3888 - The insanity defense rests on the assumption that criminal responsibility requires free choice
#complicates(0.80) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1882 - Nineteenth-century courts inverted law so crimes imply possible insanity
#complicates(0.80) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 59 - Plea bargaining shifts sentencing control from legislatures to courtroom actors’ discretion
#complicates(0.70) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1809