How Crazy are the Criminally Insane?

There’s a huge misconception out there about people with mental illness. Rather than being responsible for violent crimes, they are statistically far more likely to be victims of violent crime. Unfortunately the idea of an insanity plea often causes people to balk. The perception is that they are trying to get away with a crime. But insanity pleas rarely work, and when they do there’s usually a good reason.

Debilitating mental illnesses affect 1 in 25 adults, yet only ten percent of those with an undiagnosed mental illness may commit a violent crime. Even when an insanity plea is entered, the instances in which it will hold up are very rare. Less than 1 out of every 100 defendants in a criminal case who plead insanity are successfully found to be criminally insane, even though there are 51 variations of the insanity plea in the United States alone.

There have been some famous cases where the insanity plea has come into play in the United States. For people like Lorena Bobbit, the strategy worked. But the strategy was unsuccessful for the notorious Jeffrey Dahmer, who was given 15 consecutive life sentences for his crimes. Learn more about the insanity defense from this infographic.