Insanity Across State Jurisdictions

The Sixth Amendment guarantees every defendant the right to a fair trial, yet this promise often falls short in cases involving mental illness. Outdated psychiatric doctrines like traditional competency and insanity standards, combined with restrictive evidentiary rules such as Rule 702, limit courts’ ability to fully understand a defendant’s mental state. These limitations undermine fairness by excluding critical insights from lived experience and modern mental health knowle

The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment is a cornerstone of American civil rights law. It mandates that no state shall deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. This clause has been pivotal in various landmark cases, particularly those involving discrimination based on race, gender, and other characteristics. However, one area that often receives less attention is the intersection of the Equal Protection Clause and mental incapa