NCJ Number
115250
Journal
Hospital and Community Psychiatry Volume: 39 Issue: 2 Dated: (February 1988) Pages: 186-189
Date Published
1988
Length
4 pages
Annotation
In 1980, Wisconsin repealed the Sex Crimes Act, an indeterminate commitment law for 'sexual psychopaths.'
Abstract
To test the hypothesis that judges and juries may be more accepting of the insanity defense, statistical data from before and after repeal of the law and case reports for three insanity acquittees were examined. During 1978, 6 of 92 insanity acquitees hospitalized (6.5 percent) had been charged with sex crimes, as compared to 47 (or 21.3 percent) of insanity acquittees hospitalized in 1980. Further, a greater proportion of hospitalized sex offenders acquitted by reason of insanity were diagnosed as nonpsychotic (e.g., personality disorder, sexual deviance, developmental disabilities) than were acquittees charged with other crimes. In the three case studies, it is apparent that juries found the sex offenders guilty by reason of insanity but appeared to disregard legal definitions of insanity in making their decisions. These results suggest that the juries and courts reached their decisions by considering the defendants' need for treatment and the need to protect the public, but were not particularly influenced by legal criteria. 21 references, (Author abstract modified)