CRIMINAL LAW - ''TEMPORARY INSANITY" -ARGUMENTS AND PROPOSALS FOR ITS ELIMINATION AS A DEFENSE TO CRIMINAL PROSECUTION

ln view of the apparently increasing number of cases which have come before the courts in recent years in which the defense of "temporary insanity" has been made, an investigation into the status of that defense in the criminal law of today would seem desirable. The term "temporary insanity" is one of popular origin and finds no place in strict legal terminology. The defense of incapacity for the mens rea, legally speaking, is "insanity," not "temporary insanity." But because of the human desire for a mot convenable, we have come to apply the term "temporary insanity" to those defenses which are based upon the claim that the insanity begins "on the eve of the criminal act and ends when it is consummated."