Insanity (Law) (Topical Term)

Black's law dict. (insanity; lunacy see insanity)

American Heritage dict. ("Law a. Unsoundness of mind sufficient in the judgment of a civil court to render a person unfit to maintain a contractual or other legal relationship or to warrant commitment to a mental health facility. b. In most criminal jurisdictions, a degree of mental malfunctioning sufficient to relieve the accused of legal responsibility for the act commited.")

Nolo.com Web site, May 24, 2007 (criminal insanity: a mental defect or disease that makes it impossible for a person to understand the wrongfulness of his acts or, even if he understands them, to distinguish right from wrong. Defendants who are criminally insane cannot be convicted of a crime, since criminal conduct involves the conscious intent to do wrong -- a choice that the criminally insane cannot meaningfully make.)

Here are entered works on the legal standard whereby persons with severe mental disorders are prevented from having legal capacity and are excused from criminal or civil responsibility.

Notes under Mental health laws; Mental illness