Provision for Insane Criminals (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Provision for Insane Criminals<br><br>A subject which is everywhere forcing itself upon public attention, is the question of suitable custody for criminals who are insane. There is a notable increase of this class in all parts of the country, and to-day, all of the more populous and prosperous States of the Union are being made to feel keenly the necessity of establishing tome efficient, economical and humane provision for the large numbers of their dependents in whom crime and insanity are associated.<br><br>The increase of this class is undoubtedly due in part to the clearer recognition of the agency of insanity in producing crime; so that many who would at one time have been held wholly responsible for their offences, and punished accordingly, at present are plainly seen to be victims of diseased It was formerly held that any person who in general terms knew right from wrong, or had the intelligence of a child of seven, or was not altogether imbecile, must be answerable before the law for his or her misdeeds. If mentally defective, it must yet be proven that the person "doth not know what he is doing, no more than an infant or a brute or wild beast."<br><br>Afterwards, it was required that the existence of insane delusions should be demonstrated, and that the crime should have been a direct outgrowth of these. Later, the knowledge of right and wrong as a test of mental integrity was restricted to the particular time and act. Then, a consideration not previously adduced, began to assume prominence, and this was the ability of the individual to control his own acts; and at the present day, it is unhesitatingly admitted by legal authorities, by public opinion, and by medical men alike, that offenders may and do commit crimes for which they are not answerable before the law by reason of disease<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.