Carl Jung once said, “The healthy man does not torture others. Generally, it is the tortured who turn into tortures.”
Ted Bundy was an infamous serial killer who murdered more than thirty people. When he was finally caught, he was arrested, diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder, and sentenced to death. More than twenty-five years later, Andrea Yates was convicted after drowning her five children, the oldest being seven and the youngest being only six months, in her bathtub. In court she claimed, “It was the seventh deadly sin. My children weren’t righteous. They were going to perish.” She was found “not guilty by reason of insanity” after being diagnosed with severe postpartum depression and psychosis and now resides in a low security mental institution. What made her more special than Bundy?

10 million Americans over 18 suffer from a severe mental illness according to the National Alliance of Mental Illness. And, according to the Treatment Advocacy center, 1,400 of those 10 million have committed homicide. That means that 9,998,600 people with the same mental illnesses have managed to not kill anyone. It also means that 1,400 people could potentially, literally get away with murder. Although only .25% of criminal plead insanity and win, there have been some major cases where the odds are in favor of the defendant. (Insanity Defense: A Closer Look)

Steven Steinberg, a man charged for killing his wife Elena by stabbing her with a kitchen knife twenty-six times, walked away from his sentence a free man because he was apparently sleepwalking when he committed the crime. The legal argument used was, “The defendant was not in his normal state of mind when he committed the act. Sleep walking is a parasomnia manifested by automatism; as such, harmful actions committed while in this state cannot be blamed on the perpetrator.” He was determined not guilty because he could not remember murdering his wife, even though he did not deny killing her. (Insanity Defense Cases)

The insanity plea is specific to those who do not have the mental capacity to comprehend that the crimes they committed were wrong. These people, while I understand that they are sick, should still be held accountable for their actions. Seeing figures and hearing voices does not reverse what that individual has done and it does not bring back anybody that they killed. That is why I believe that the insanity plea or mental illness defense should not be applicable to someone accused of homicide in the state of Nevada. Already, the insanity defense is not allowed in Kansas, Idaho, Montana, and Utah. Perhaps they agree that a mental illness that caused someone to kill is no less dangerous than a pure desire to kill. At the end of the day, both result in the loss of a life. (Insanity Defense)

There is also the matter of how effective the tests for mental illnesses are when the person on trial has never been diagnosed before. Many find the insanity plea controversial because insanity could be faked to receive a less severe punishment. The courts test for legal insanity with one or several of four tests: “The "M'Naghten Rule", The "Irresistible Impulse" Test, The "Durham Rule", and The "Model Penal Code" Test for Legal Insanity. (Insanity Defense) These tests determine whether the accused didn’t understand what he or she did, or couldn’t distinguish between right and wrong. The tests are surely reliable, but isn’t it possible that one could deceive the test or proctor. Jonas Rappeport, a forensic psychiatrist says even though insanity pleas aren’t often successful, “When you've got no better defense, that's the way to go." And how exactly does one prove that the mental illness is what caused the defendant to commit the crimes they did? There is no way of knowing whether or not the defendant accused was lucid at the time of the crime. Even Ted Bundy said, “I just liked to kill. I just wanted to kill.” (Insanity Defense: A Closer Look)

It is impossible to be 100% sure when it comes to a situation like this. It’s better to be safe than sorry and I don’t believe that low security mental institutions are the right places for people who are capable of taking another’s life. If these individuals are really that dangerous, then they should be somewhere that they will be constantly monitored. Murderers have no place in our society, no matter what form they come in. Mental illnesses are serious and should be taken seriously, but they shouldn’t be an excuse for someone committing murder. Without the insanity plea more criminals will be forced to be accountable for their actions and there might even be fewer crimes committed.