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15 Duke J. Const. L. & Pub. Pol'y Sidebar 43 (2020)
Kahler v. Kansas: The End of the Insanity Defense?

handle is hein.journals/dukjppsid15 and id is 43 raw text is: KAHLER V. KANSAS: THE END OF THE INSANITY DEFENSE? ERIC ROYTMAN* INTRODUCTION For centuries, American and English courts refused to assign criminal liability to defendants who, because of mental illness, did not understand the wrongfulness of their actions. Hundreds of years before the Framers were born, English courts widely recognized a mentally ill defendant's right to avoid criminal liability when he lacked moral understanding. From the American Revolution to the turn of the twenty-first century, courts in every jurisdiction in America widely recognized this right as well. In 1995, Kansas, along with a small number of other states, passed a statute abrogating the widely recognized common law insanity defense. At common law, a defendant could raise the defense when a mental illness impaired his ability to distinguish right from wrong, allowing him to escape liability even when the elements of the crime were otherwise fulfilled. However, under Kansas' statutory scheme, evidence of a defendant's mental illness can only be used to negate the mens rea element of the offense. In other words, evidence of mental illness is only relevant when it shows that the defendant lacked the intent to commit the act itself, regardless of whether he believed that act was moral. In Kansas, a defendant driven by mental illness to intentionally harm another has no viable path to acquittal at trial, even when his mental illness caused him to believe his actions were morally right. In Kahler v. Kansas,' the Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of Kansas's statutory scheme. The Court's decision in this case will have profound implications for how courts deal with defendants struggling with mental illness. A decision to uphold Kansas's statute could be interpreted as a green light for other states to Copyright ©D 2020 Eric Roytman J.D. Candidate, Duke University School of Law, Class of 2021. 1. 139 S. Ct. 1318 (2019).

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