[HPforGrownups] Re: Justice: A Lawyerly Response

[Pam Hugonnet]

No: HPFGUIDX 5967



foxmoth at qnet.com wrote:

>
>         Or it could be that Sirius and others were considered insane and
> therefor not competent to stand trial.

In order to be considered competent to stand trial in the US, one has to be
able to understand the charges that are being made against you and be able
to assist your attorney in your own defense.  There are a number of reasons
that one could be found incompetent to stand trial, but it usually has to do
with the presence of  serious mental disorder.

In such cases of competency, at least in the US, if one is found incompetent
to stand trial, that individual is usually committed to a secure facility
for treatment of his/her mental disease until they are recovered enough to
meet the aforementioned standards.


heidi tandy wrote:

> But if you're found to be insane, then (at least in the US, which is
> based on teh same standard of insanity as the UK (stems from a UK
> case where some guy tried to kill the prime minister about 100 years
> ago)) you go to a mental institution, not to prison (like luicus in
> cassandra's fanfic Draco Sinister).
>

That's the old M'Naughton rule: can be found not guilty by reason of
insanity if at the time of the offense, the individual did not appreciate
the wrongfulness of his actions ("I didn't know what I was doin'!").  That
used to be the standard in the US prior to the John Hinckley case (he's the
guy who tried to assasinate Ronald Reagan in 1981).   Because many believe
he got off too easy, the standard was subsequently changed.  It's now called
the American Law Institute Standard (ALI) and states that not only should
the person not be able to appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions but
also that he was unable to conform his behavior to the requirements of the
law.    It's this second piece that is very tricky to prove.

Anyhow, this is all a rather long winded way of saying it's not likely that
Sirius was thought to be insane, in the clinical sense.  It's more likley a
case of his being judged bad by Crouch, Sr. and then an added case of bad PR
as far as the general public is concerned (He's got to be crazy to be such a
cold blooded killer!)

drpam


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