The M'Naghten case and the Hinckley matter are in some ways remarkably
similar. The attempted assassination of a ruling figure, the public
discomfort with the insanity defense, and problems in the application of
the legal rules characterized both. An explosion of media criticism
occurred in 1843, as it did in 1982. The English ultimately handled the
M'Naghten case in a dispassionate manner that determined Anglo-American law
for more than a century and provided the basic law by which Hinckley was
tried. Fears expressed in 1843 were never realized; the final chapters of
the Hinckley case remain to be written.Abstract Teaser