The Insanity Defense

In order to address the issues regarding the insanity defense, temporary insanity, and crimes of passion, it is necessary to first examine free will and determinism. Analyzing our individual free will can be very intriguing and can almost reach the point of being paradoxical. Most of us prefer to think we have free will. That is, we prefer to think we are able to make choices or decisions based upon our own unique preferences. Such …

…whatever crime I committed. Regardless of my state of mind, I would still be “responsible” for whatever crime I committed because I caused someone’s death or inflicted harm on someone else. It seems unfair for me to go unpunished for hurting someone else. Our choices are generally made out of love or fear. As we mature, hopefully, we can sift through our influences and sort out the love or fear involved in our choices.