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2020 U. Ill. L. Rev. 1603 (2020)
Me, Myself, and I: Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Criminal Sentencing

handle is hein.journals/unilllr2020 and id is 1629 raw text is: ME, MYSELF, AND I: NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER AND CRIMINAL SENTENCING STEVEN TINETTI* In recent years, society has shown an increased willingness to openly discuss and better understand mental illnesses and disorders. Often, these discussions reflect the understanding that an individual suffering from men- tal illness is not much different than an individual suffering from a physical illness. This discourse has underscored an important issue: individuals who suffer from a mental illness or disorder may take some action because of their condition. The way a mental disorder may impact an individual's men- tal state has especially important significance in the context of the criminal justice system. Indeed, the prison population in the United States has higher rates of mental illness and disorders than the general population. And the criminal's mental state can directly bare on what charges or ultimate sen- tence the criminal may face. This Note argues that judges ought to consider a criminal defendant's personality disorder as a mitigating factor during sentencing. Specifically, this note argues that sentencing statutes should list narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) as a mitigating factor. Symptoms of NPD can include a sense of entitlement, lack of empathy, and exploitative behavior (among other things), and some studies have linked NPD to violent behavior. Alt- hough many sentencing schemes today provide judges with great flexibility and would allow a judge to consider NPD as mitigating, presenting evi- dence of NPD can be a double-edged sword: the NPD evidence presented may be both aggravating and mitigating, ultimately resulting in a harsher sentence for the defendant. But because an individual may be more likely to commit a crime because of NPD-in other words, because of a mental condition-the individual's culpability is lessened and any sentence ren- dered should reflect this culpability. This Note advocates for sentencing statutes that specifically list NPD as a mitigating factor, allowing defend- ants to more freely present evidence that will lead to more just and fair sentencing. 1603 * J.D. 2020, University of Illinois College of Law; B.A., Loyola University Chicago. Thank you to the staff and members of the University of Illinois Law Review for their hard work on this Note. Many thanks to my law school professors, who inspired and guided me throughout law school. And a very special thank you to my family and friends for their constant love and support.

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