Ryans M M
J Natl Med Assoc. 1978 Aug;70(8):581.
The field of forensic psychiatry is not always compatible with legalities in our court system, causing some cases to be in a "gray" area. A case is presented, demonstrating shortcomings of the M'Naghten rule, which is meant to protect the mentally ill person from being incarcerated when he is not aware of the nature or the seriousness of the crime of which he stands accused. However, this rule is not applicable when there is awareness, even if the patient is laboring under a delusional system. In the case to be considered, the individual suffers by being given a criminal record instead of being found not guilty by reason of insanity, although the end result is the same.The author feels there should be a much broader interpretation of the M'Naghten rule to encompass the full intent of protecting the mentally ill person but to exclude the sociopath and those with character disorders. The Durham rule is not workable because of this inclusion.
法医精神病学领域并不总是与我们法院系统的法律规定相一致，这导致一些案件处于“灰色”地带。本文呈现了一个案例，展示了麦克诺顿规则的不足之处。该规则旨在保护精神疾病患者，使其在不了解自己被指控罪行的性质或严重性时不被监禁。然而，即使患者受妄想系统影响但有认知时，此规则就不适用了。在所考虑的案例中，尽管最终结果相同，但该个体被给予了犯罪记录，而不是因精神错乱被判无罪。作者认为，应该对麦克诺顿规则进行更广泛的解释，以涵盖保护精神疾病患者的全部意图，但要排除反社会者和有性格障碍的人。由于这种包含，达勒姆规则不可行。
