Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-01-09
INSANITY AND THE LAW.

| In the argument on the instructions to
the jury in the Guiteau case, Reed, of
counsel for the defense, has taken the po-
sition that the only question to be deter
mined is that of the prisoners sanity. He
put it in the tersest possible form, saying,
Sanity is guilt. Insanity is innocence. F"
Now without particularly referring to the
bearing of this argument upon the Guiteau
case, we affirm that it is absolutely falls-
cious, based upon ignorance OF the nature
of insanity, and calculated to defeat al "a
tional endeayors to administer justice. It
is most probable that in the Guiteau case
the jury will find the prisoner to have been
sane, and that they will do this because
they believe that any other verdict would
be tantamount TO acquittal. 1t is of course
an exceedingly difficult question to deter
mine, yet we are OF opinion that if the
consequence of finding verdict of insanity
was not what Reed has stated it to be, an
intelligent jury would believe this man to be
insane. But the doctrine that reasonable
doubt of the defendants sanity must ac-
quit, though unfortunately justified appa-
rently blythe vicious presidents established
of late, years, is incompatible with any
intelligent theory of the subject of homi-
cidal mania And it is SO erroneous a doc.
trine that in our Judgment the most reso-
Lutte ground must be taken against it, or it
will destroy the machinery of justice.
We deny the validity of Mr.. Reeds
proposition most emphatically. He says
that it would be monstrous and shocking
to the sense of justice of any man that
san accused person should be con.
"demned to the gallows about whose
"sanity any reasonable, fair man could
'sraise any question" We say that all
that is nonsense that the hanging of an
insane man is no more shocking than the
hanging of sane man, if the insane man
knew what he was doing when he COM
mitted the crime for which he is arraigned !;
and that if no man is to be hanged about
whose sanity the least doubt can exist,
capital punishment will be abolished. In
the case OF Guiteau no doubt the defense
has set up plea which is purely fictitious.
Spasmodic or temporary insanity, of the
kind here presented, has no existence in
fact. A man may be temporarily insane
while suffering from acute cerebral disease,
or while laboring under compression of the
brain resulting from blow, or while I'M
der the effect of drugs or stimulants. But
no man was ever sane one moment, insane
the next, and sane again the next No
man was ever insane solely for the dura-
ton of crime, and then sane again. The
occurrence of such cases is legal fabrica-
ton. 1t has the support of no alenist
of any reputation or character. 1t is in
fact complete delusion and imposture.
But the central roint in this question is
that of responsibility. If, says Reed, the
man is insane, he is innocent that is to
say, if he is insane he is not responsible
That is the fatal defect of the argument
for the defense, and of the existing legal
theory of the relation of crime to insanity
The truth is that madmen are nearly al.
ways perfectly conscious of all they do
perfectly aware of the consequences of their
acts; perfectly able to control themselves;
perfectly aware of the distinction between
right and wrong. In every insane asylum
which is conducted on enlightened modern
principles, system of rewards and punish
ments is employed, and with all the ad-
vantage derivable from that method among
sane persons. The insane patients thor
oughly understand what they ought and
what they ought not to do, and they ex-
ercise constant restraint upon their cratic
dispositions because of this understanding
In nine cases out of ten, therefore, there
is complete accountability among the in
sane, and it is consequently the merest nom
sense for lawyers to pretend that proof of
insanity is or ought to be proof of ire
sponsibility. But at the same time it must
be pointed out that the theory is so con-
venient as means of defeating justice
that lawyers may be reluctant to abandon
it, even though it sometimes entails disas
ter upon their efforts. For since nothing
is less tangible than the testimony to in
sanity, and nothing is easier to procure
than "expert testimony on that head, so
the average juryman is liable to be strongly
influenced by any appeal of this kind when
he is instructed that reasonable doabt
ought to acquit.
In fact the jury are usually so perplexed
by the conflict of opinion among the
"experts, and are rendered so nervous by
such assertions as that of Reed, that they
allow their judgment to be overborne,
and SO frequently render verdicts which
are the despair of the thoughtful and the
scandal of our criminal administration.
But if the truth, as now firmly established
by Science-namely, that insanity and re.
sponsibilitY are quite compatible-were
once admitted in the practice of criminal
law, there would be no temptation to ig-
more the plain lessons of the facts, and we
should soon have murder properly pun
ished. In the Guiteau case the prosecu.
ton has followed the beaten track, and
with very bad Judgment has made every
thing rest on the question of the prisoners
sanity. This is dangerous line to take,
or would be under any other circumstances,
because it is perfectly apparent that Gui-
teau is at all events in many respects I'm.
like other men, and because, therefore,
it must be very easy for the jury to
entertain some doubt as to his complete
sanity. Wedo not contemplate verdict of
acquittal, but should the case terminate in
that way we shall not hesitate to attribute
the failure of the prosecution to its igno.
rance and timidity in regard to this point.