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22 Dev. Mental Health L. 1 (2003)

handle is hein.journals/dvmnhlt22 and id is 1 raw text is: DEVELOPMENTS IN MENTAL HEALTH LAW The Institute of Law, Psychiatry & Public Policy - The University of Virginia Volume 22. Number 1 February 2003 Villain or Victim? Myths, Gender, and the Insanity Defense By Scott Commerson* I. Introduction When a woman commits a heinous act, the explanations offered for her behavior differ vastly from those provided for her male counterpart. Society is more likely to attribute violent crimes committed by a woman to a biological or a psychological cause outside of her control, while less deterministic social and economic forces tend to be cited as the causal forces driving violent action by a man. In cases where social factors are implicated for female defendants, often only prior victimization is identified as being relevant. This divergence in the characterization of male and female crime reflects deeply imbedded views of women as being more passive, emotionally vulnerable, and incapable of self-control than men. The media's tendency to victimize female criminals reinforces and perpetuates such paternalistic gender stereotyping. In the context of the insanity defense, the resolution of which is typically placed in the hands of a jury, this gender bias is compounded by the persistent myths that surround the defense. As will be discussed, the public grossly overestimates the frequency and success rate of the insanity plea, underestimates the amount of time that insanity acquittees spend in custody, and wrongly believes that there is little risk to the Also in this issue: Supreme Court Cases .......... 18 Other Federal Court Cases ...... 24 Virginia State Court Cases ...... 28 Other State Court Cases .......... 32 Other Legal Developments ...... 33 defendant in asserting the defense. Each of these myths interacts with widespread beliefs about women and criminality to produce a heavy bias in favor of a female defendant asserting an insanity defense as compared with a male defendant. Although for individual female defendants the bias may be beneficial, it comes at the societal cost of reinforcing gender-based stereotypes and denying equal treatment under the law. In addition, the public's ignorance and false beliefs about the insanity defense deprives defendants of both genders of a just outcome under the system. * University of Virginia, J.D., 2003. The author thanks the reviewers of this article for their helpful comments and the editor for his help in preparing the article for publication. .. ......r 2003.

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