Posted by Elizabeth on March 10, 2000, at 10:28:22
In reply to Re: abuse of insanity defense, posted by Scott L. Schofield on March 7, 2000, at 21:44:21
> First, the opinion: I do believe that the "insanity" defense has a place in our justice system, and is an important protection for those of us who are for some reason caught in a state of altered consciousness.
Oh yeah, I do too. But I think that if it keeps being abused, we could lose it altogether (in favor, e.g., of the absurd "guilty but insane").
> However, I believe more responsibility must be placed on the judges, for they are to provide the guide upon which the jury must base their decisions.
True. They also need to keep the expert witnesses in line. ;-)
> Not fact: There must certainly be a neurochemical substrate for suicidality if it can be induced “artificially”. It can. So must there be a neurochemical substrate for psychotic aggression, for it too can be induced through the application of foreign agents. I’ll let the psychopharmacologists among us list them. I believe Prozac to be one such agent.
There isn't any one substrate for "psychotic aggression" (or psychotic guilt, grandeur, paranoia, etc.), but Prozac
However, just because a reaction was associated with Prozac (in this guy's case it's impossible to tell the "cause" -- Prozac? Xanax? Lyme disease? Just needed the $?), doesn't mean that it was a psychotic reaction (or that the individual has *no* responsibility for his actions).
poster:Elizabeth
thread:25642
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000302/msgs/26613.html