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86 W. Va. L. Rev. 1169 (1983-1984)
People of the State of Illinois vs. John Gacy: The Functioning of the Insanity Defense at the Limits of the Criminal Law

handle is hein.journals/wvb86 and id is 1181 raw text is: PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS VS. JOHN GACY: THE FUNCTIONING OF THE INSANITY DEFENSE AT THE LIMITS OF THE CRIMINAL LAW DONALD H.J. HERMANN* HELEN L. MORRISON** YVONNE SOR*** JULIE A. NORMAN**** DAVID M. NEFF***** I. INTRODUCTION The conviction of John Gacy in 1980 of 33 counts of murder demonstrates the limits of the criminal law in a number of significant ways. As one of the state's prosecuting attorneys put it: John Gacy now had the singular notoriety of having been convicted of more murders than anyone in American history.' Mass murder itself involves crime at the outermost extreme of prohibited conduct. Homicide, the most serious criminal offense, is multiplied. At the same time, this case demonstrates the limits of the criminal justice system in providing protection for the citizen. For four years boys and young men literally disappeared from the streets of Chicago and its suburbs without any serious efforts by the police to determine their whereabouts.2 Family members and friends of the missing persons were unable to induce effective investigation, and other victims were unable to persuade authorities to instigate prosecutorial action.3 Even with the conviction of Gacy, the criminal law has been pushed to the limit in its efforts to fashion a proper disposition for this offender. Given the psychiatric evaluation of Gacy neither a criminal sentence nor a program of treatment for a mentally disordered offender may be adequate or appropriate. The case suggests the need to consider the possibility of permanent isolation and incapacitation of dangerous persons who are not treatable nor rehabilitable, nor properly subject to execution. A case like John Gacy's is most often not the subject of study in a legal * Judicial Fellow of United States Courts, 1983-1984. Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy, DePaul University. A.B., Stanford University, 1965; J.D., Columbia University, 1968; LL.M., Harvard University, 1974; M.A., Northwestern University, 1979; Ph.D., Northwestern University, 1981. ** M.D., Medical College of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, 1972. Currently director of the Evaluation Center in Chicago, Illinois. The Center assesses physical and emotional brain function. Cer- tified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in General Psychiatry and Child Psychiatry; American Board of Forensic Psychiatry. Member, American Psychiatric Association; American Psychoanalytic Association; American Academy of Psychiatry and Law; American Academy of Forensic Sciences. *** B.A., B.S., Mundeleine College, 1970; M.S., Northwestern University, 1982; J.D. DePaul University, 1983. Teaching Fellow DePaul University. * B.A., Northeast Missouri University, 1967; J.D. DePaul University, 1984. **** B.S., Northwestern University, 1982; J.D. (candidate), DePaul University, 1985. T. SULLIVAN & P. MAIKEN, KILLER CLOWN: THE JOHN VAYNE GACY MURDERS 340-41 (1983). 2 See, C. LINEDECKER, Tim MAN WHO KILLED Boys 216-17 (1980). See generally Behind Growing Worry Over Runaway Youths, 86 U.S. NEws AND WORLD REPORT 63 (Jan. 15, 1979). 1169

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