NCJ Number
147453
Date Published
1992
Length
17 pages
Annotation
Premenstrual syndrome is discussed as a defense to criminal actions.
Abstract
This essays discusses the premenstrual syndrome (PMS) defense in an effort to prompt further exploration of PMS by the legal community. PMS is a hormone deficiency disease and should not be confused with more common forms of menstrual distress. A precise diagnosis differentiating PMS with menstrual distress is medically possible by the examination of menstrual records, police, prison, medical, and employment files, by chemical diagnosis, and by consideration of diagnostic guidelines. The authors cite various studies that have linked PMS to antisocial behavior. In recent years, the courts of Great Britain and Canada have considered automatism and uncontrolled, impulsive behavior resulting from emotional shock, epilepsy, or diabetic hypoglycemia as defenses in criminal cases. Commentators have suggested that the creation of variants of the insanity defense, of the impulsive or automatic act defense, or of the doctrine of diminished capacity also may be applied to the PMS defense. Assuming that the courts accept the theory that antisocial conduct in certain women is influenced and/or determined by PMS, questions are raised as to whether a female defendant's hormonal imbalance can or should be considered a defense to, or in mitigation of, a criminal charge, and what type of punishment, if any, should be administered to a criminal defendant suffering, and whose criminal conduct resulted from, symptoms of premenstrual tension. The problem presented the legal system by PMS and conduct caused or influenced by it is a many-faceted one involving issues of proof, of application, and of punishment, among others. As more becomes known about PMS, the criminal justice system will be required to face these issues and to accommodate the reality of PMS. 91 endnotes