Opinion ID: 2438728
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Model Penal Code

Text: The American Law Institute in its Model Penal Code, Proposed Official Draft, Section 4.01(1) proposes the following standard: (1) A person is not responsible for criminal conduct if at the time of such conduct as a result of mental disease or defect he lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality [wrongfulness] of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law. (2) As used in this Article, the terms `mental disease or defect' do not include an abnormality manifested only by repeated criminal or otherwise antisocial conduct. Reference to Section 39-601 of the Proposed Final Draft of the Tennessee Criminal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure will reveal substantially the same provision. [7] The Comment to the Model Penal Code accepts the theory of the combined M'Naghten and irresistible impulse tests that take account of the impairment of volitional capacity no less than impairment of cognition, but it rejects both of these tests as being too narrow. It is obvious that the phrase to appreciate the criminality of his conduct in the Model Penal Code is a substitute for the M'Naghten clause to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing. While we recognize that this test, like any other test of insanity, is not perfect and will itself produce problems, we are persuaded that it is the best test of insanity in existence today, combining as it does, the essential elements of cognition, volition and capacity to control behavior. In actuality it is essentially a refinement and restatement of the full M'Naghten rules.