Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-1-1984
Keywords
Criminal defenses, Insanity defense, Insanity plea, Forensic psychiatry, John Hinckley Jr., Legal insanity
Disciplines
Criminal Law | Criminal Procedure | Law and Psychology | Law and Society | Litigation
Abstract
The authors obtained opinions of forensic psychiatry in a community survey following the not guilty by reason of insanity verdict in the Hinckley trial. A majority of respondents expressed little or no confidence in the specific psychiatric testimony in the Hinckley trial and only modest faith in the general ability of psychiatrists to determine legal insanity. Respondents' general and specific attitudes were strongly related. Younger people and women were more positive in their views of psychiatry in the courtroom.
Recommended Citation
Slater, Dan and Hans, Valerie P., "Public Opinion of Forensic Psychiatry Following the Hinckley Verdict" (1984). Cornell Law Faculty Publications. 416.
https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/facpub/416
Publication Citation
Published in: The American Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 141, no. 5 (May 1, 1984).
Included in
Criminal Law Commons, Criminal Procedure Commons, Law and Psychology Commons, Law and Society Commons, Litigation Commons