Talking with Psychopaths and Savages: Guilty but Insane

The plea of insanity in criminal cases can be traced back at least to the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, which dates from 1755-1759 BC. It is a complicated defence, and its origins in modern law lie with what are called the ''M''Naghten Rules'' of 1843, formulated by British judges as a jury instruction in cases where a plea of insanity had been entered. Daniel M''Naghten shot and killed one Edward...