Insanity Defense and the Unabomber Term Paper

If someone is mentally weak in any way, such as those who would be eligible for the insanity plea, sending them to prison would be very dangerous indeed, for they would be more likely to be influenced into being worse criminals. Additionally, those with disabilities, physical or mental, are even more likely than the general population to the raped and sexually abused behind bars. Evidence shows that one out of four members of the prison population are sexually abused while in prison, and the chances for someone who is mentally challenged in any way is much higher. (SPR) Would a jury feel comfortable handing down a sentence of repeated raping and beatings to the defendant of a trial? Most likely, people would be outraged about this form of punishment, and therefore juries should not feel comfortable sending someone who is most likely going to be raped into the prison system.

When someone is convicted of being innocent by reason of insanity, this does not get them off the hook completely. These people are now considered to be dangerously mentally ill, and they will be sent to hospitals or other facilities to be evaluated and treated for their illness.As the article by Sarason points out, most of the time the person who is found to be insane will have a longer sentence in a mental institution, which is not a fun experience, than they would have in prison. "Even those declared legally insane and not responsible for their crimes are usually confined to psychiatric hospitals and are likely to remain there longer than the prison sentence for an equivalent crime." (Saraon) the only difference is that this person then has a chance to be rehabilitated and actually made a productive and safe members of society, rather than ensuring that the person will continue being dangerous and unproductive in society for the rest of that person's life.

Bibliography

Sarason, Barbara R. "The Insanity Defense and the Unabomber Trial." Peregrine Publishers, 1998.

SPR. "The Basics on Rape Behind Bars." Stop Prisoner Rape. 2004. http://www.spr.org/en/doc_01_factsheet.html.....