To Kill a Mockingbird: Stare Decisis and M'Naghten in Maryland
10 Pages Posted: 25 Jul 2008 Last revised: 15 Aug 2008
Date Written: 1966
Abstract
There are certain pillars of jurisprudence which, despite the erosive elements of time and progress, remain sacred. After more than a century of judicial dialogue the venerable M'Naghten Rule survives as the prevailing test to determine criminal responsibility. The rule states: "To establish a defense on the ground of insanity, it must be clearly proved that, at the time of the committing of the act, the party accused was labouring under such a defect of reason, from disease of the mind, as not to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing; or if he did know it, that he did not know that what he was doing was wrong."
Keywords: criminal law, insanity defense, M'Naghten Rule
JEL Classification: K14, K41
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation