The Case For A Purely Volitional Insanity Defense

Argue in this Article (a) that there is a role for an independent insanity defense, and (b) that that role is precisely to allow the defendant to argue a defect of will or a lack of control. Far from being something that should be excluded from an insanity test, the volitional prong should be the only prong. There must be serious mental illness, as a result of which the defendant had substantial difficulty in conforming her behavior to the law. Presents this possibility to consider: that all of the problems that incline us to say that a person is legally insane are problems of volition or control.