Disorder in the Court

The first book-length rhetorical history and analysis of the insanity defense, considered one of the most controversial, most misunderstood, and least straightforward subjects in the American legal system. This book traces U.S. legal standards for the insanity defense as they have evolved from 1843, when first codified in England, to 1984, when the U.S. attempted to revise them through the Insanity Defense Reform Act. Throughout this period “insanity” existed primarily as a legal term rather than a medical one; yet the testimony of psychiatric experts is required in cases in which an insanity defense is raised.

Alden argues that the problems with understanding the insanity defense are, at their foundation, rhetorical. She examines landmark court cases such as the trial of Daniel McNaughtan, Durham v. United States, and the trial of John Hinckley Jr. that signal the major shifts in the legal definitions. Combining archival, textual and rhetorical analysis, Alden offers a close reading of texts including trial transcripts, appellate court opinions and relevant medical literature. She contextualizes these analyses through popular texts showing that while all societies have maintained some version of mental illness as a mitigating factor in their penal systems, the insanity defense has always been fraught with controversy.