New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-04-25
LEOTURE-ROOM THEMES.
TILE CRIMINALS SCREEN.

TIE CRIMINALS SCREEN
AN ARGUMENT NY DAVID DUDLEY FIELD, TO PROVE
THAT EMOTIONAL INSANITY SHOULD NOT EXEMPT
FROM PUNISHMENT.
The monthly meeting Of the Medico-LoRal Society
was held ut the College Of Physicians and Surgeons
last evening. David Dudley Field read paper on
Emotional Insanity" taking the ground that "
was no canse for tho oxculpntion Of an offender In
the discussion which followed. DR.. Hammond, Mr'
Yeamans and others took part Below is an abstract
of the paper:
The ouestons OF the existenco OF emotional insanity
and its excuse for otherwise criminal acts depend upon
the more general question OF insanity In its reahn
crime. crime Is an act or omission fOrohdeh W NV
and attended, upon conviction, with certain punSn
ment, Punishment Is something annexed 10 eriho 90
consequence, painful to tho offender inc PURPOSE u
human punishment Is neither revenge nor rotrtu
but the enforcement OF the laws Tho penalty operates
not by way OF satisfaction. but prevention Iho oeo'
ia TO deter The rightfulness or punishment neponu
solely upon its necessity Laws are mace lot 'uo P
lection OF society and IT DO necessary 10 nave "'
&c Is necessary to enforce them. Ihe an'uoro '"
take human life can only 10 justified by such course
reasoning This necessity is not only ths warrant pu'
the limit OF tho law Useless punishment Is itseli
crime AT this point enters the question OF INSANITY III
tia relation to criminal responsibility There may DO
degree Of insanity whioh requires that the paten.
should be placed in unatic asylum, or WHICH, Wno ~
would nvadate his contract, would not aosol'o nun
from the charge or consequences OF GRIM
inal Tho language of the statutes, declaring
that "no act dOno by person IN s'''o
Of insanity can DO punished as ON ohense
IA too general and needs great deal OF qualification In
its application 10 the facts OF particular cases upon
the question OF insanity there Is much disagreement
Lawyers and physicians disagree professionally ana
among themselves Neither do any two Judges agree
4,tnt Ofrn nv
Judges in the McNaughon in ias the writings OF
Buckuill and Hammond, Judge Caprons charge in tho
Huntington forgery case the instructions TO the ures In
the sickles case, the Coles case, tho MeFarlnnd
case, tho scannell case, and others, snow inc
difference In thought upon this subject Inc
best definition OF legal responsibility, looking at
Il In reference TO tho most recent phlOsophcA
researches and also IN relation TO the duty OF the law 10
protect the same from injury. and the insane from use
Iess punishment "a knowledge that certain acts arc
permitted by law and that certain acts arc contrary TO
law and combined with this knowledge, tho power TO
appreciate and DO moved by tho ordinary motives whch
influence the actions OF mankind. Tho object OF punish
ment being 10 deter. II would seem to follow that IL
should only DO inflicted when 1t will be likely to deter
The question is, was the offender capable OF knowing
that tho act omission violation OF the law, and
OF refranng from It, II ho was he in tho sense OF
the law free agent Upon these two ultimate ques-
lions hangs the deesion Of the issue Of insanity In
criminal cases.
The medical profession pronounces that person insane
whose mental processes directly at variance with
the average mind in respect either TO his percep
TONS his reason, his emotions, his Will; that Is TO
say there may be perceptona intellectual emotional.
or yotonal insanity. Perceptonal insanity consists In
the formation OF false percepons In intellectual In
sanity chief feature IA false belief IN respect 10
material objects; in emotional insanity the emotlpns
parlyze the will. and in youOnal insanity the VIII has
passed beyond the control OF tue intellect IN tae legal
point OF view the will Is considered a. the executive de
parmeut Of the mind aud the acts of commission or
resistance are It's acts lu resisting temptation stehs
10 reason temptation generally comes from tho per
ceptons rho emOsOns Choice Is an act OF reason,
executive of the Will person VINO mas suDceht reason
obey is in the eye OF the law responsible for his acts
1t would seem to follow that though there DC sucn
neither Of hen taken BY itself or both together eau
Justly eKculpae the offenders relieve them from pun
shment SO also should DO punished persons who have
morbid or as they aro sometimes called Irresistible
impulses. Many people have morbid impulses 10 reap
none OF them beyond accountability for the indulgence
these impulses The government Of insane asyiums is
spcctinG criminals It acts upon the theory that
unsound OF mind influenced by motives aud can
restrained fear S must not De asserted that
these insanity may not be mingled with or lead
10 other forms which do exeulpate the dlsrepute
has fallen is owing to tho fact that
It has long been pat forward defense by ITSELF while
the fact that it lead to other forms has not been
considered. IL must never be forgotten that insanity ~
disease and that wherever there is insanity there
disease OF the BRAIN that II the brain not diseased
there is no insanity This consideration disposes OF all
those in which the done under the heat OF
passion OF In q moment OF frenzy No matter now hot
passion how fierce the frenzy that not insanity
The invariably 10 this: was there disease
This is to be proved like any other fact Dy
those competent To testify In the matter
The knowledge OF mental disease has now arrived at
degree OF accuracy. that there should be new
classification OF punlshmeDts The quality OF the act
measured by the degree Of intelligence should enter the
question 1t does not accord with our notions OF justice
that the hardened offender and his weak. tempted
brother should suffer the punishment for the
outward act What contend for Is this, that emotional
insanity should not exempt from punishment, ana that
long the law fixes only one degree OF punlshmont
whatever be the inward Consciousness, that degree
OF punishment should be inflicted.