communities and the criminal justice system. Whereas
between 1966 and 1983 the insanity defense was a
viable defense for a wide range of defendants with con-
cern about unusually long commitment, the new laws
discourage its use for less serious offenders. The insan-
ity defense with its expected long-term commitment is
an attractive defense only for serious offenders who are
facing long incarcerations if convicted. This leaves a
large portion of persons with mental illness who are
being cared for in the community finding themselves in
minor scrapes with the criminal justice system.
Two major law and mental health initiatives of the
late 20th and early 21st centuries are outpatient commit-
ment and mental health courts, both of which are out-
growths of the real and the perceived influx of
nonviolent persons with mental illness into the commu-
nities and the criminal justice system. Outpatient com-
mitment is not a new concept, but it has only recently
been widely implemented. It is a form of leverage of
persons who have a history of treatment noncompli-
ance—accept treatment or be hospitalized. In some
states, it is also a form of leverage of the legislature to
provide resources for mental health treatment. Most of
the early mental health courts accepted only nonviolent
misdemeanants. Revisions of these courts and the newer
courts began to accept felons as well, but these may be
limited to nonviolent offenders. Mental health courts are
a form of criminal justice system diversion for defen-
dants with mental illness. It is unknown at this point the
degree to which these diversion programs are taking the
place of the insanity defense. It is well documented that
there is a measured increase in psychotic disorders
among jail inmates and the convicted prison population.
While this may be due in part to better diagnostic work
in jails and prisons, it is unlikely that this accounts for
all of the increase. These observed changes parallel the
decline in the use and success of the insanity defense.
Persons with mental illness who in prior decades were
acquitted and provided treatment in mental health facil-
ities are perhaps now receiving treatment in branches of
the criminal justice system—outpatient commitment,
jail diversion programs, mental health courts, and jails
and prisons. How states respond to the increased
demand for psychiatric treatment both in and outside the
criminal justice facilities is evolving. Some states have
extensive “inpatient” and “community” mental health
services throughout their prison system. Ironically, these
states are often the same states that provide extensive
community mental health services in general. At the
same time, some states fail to meet the demand at alllevels and fail to recognize that good treatment is good
security.Lisa CallahanSee alsoConditional Release Programs; Criminal
Responsibility, Assessment of; Criminal Responsibility,
Defenses and Standards; Insanity Defense Reform Act
(IDRA)Further Readings
Eigen, J. P. (1995). Witnessing insanity: Madness and mad-
doctors in the English court.New Haven, CT: Yale
University Press.
Moran, R. (1985). The modern foundation for the insanity
defense: The cases of James Hadfield (1800) and Daniel
McNaughtan (1843). Law & Society Review, 19,602–631.
Steadman, H. J., McGreevy, M. A., Morrissey, J. P., Callahan,
L. A., Robbins, P. C., & Cirincione, C. (1993). Before and
after Hinckley: Evaluating insanity defense reform.
New York: Guilford Press.
Zapf, P. A., Golding, S. L., & Roesch, R. (2006). Criminal
responsibility and the insanity defense. In I. B. Weiner &
A. K. Hess (Eds.),The handbook of forensic psychology
(3rd ed., pp. 332–363). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.TRIALCONSULTANTTRAINING
The nature and scope of trial consultant training
reflect the array of services that are offered to clients,
such as jury research, presentation strategies, and
assistance with exhibits. There are no standard acade-
mic or professional requirements for trial consultants.
Their training varies considerably across the profes-
sion, but it tends to involve a relevant academic back-
ground, some on-the-job training, and continuing
education. Graduate training in the social sciences
tends to be quite valuable, typically more than a back-
ground in law. However, on-the-job training helps
provide competencies and strengthen skills that are
difficult to obtain in any other way. Continuing educa-
tion helps trial consultants remain up-to-date on valu-
able developments in the industry and advances in
methodological, technological, and statistical areas.
Trial consultants provide either a narrow or a wide
range of services to their clients, who are usually
attorneys but can also include insurers, corporations,
or individuals. These services generally include case814 ———Trial Consultant TrainingT-Cutler (Encyc)-45463.qxd 11/18/2007 12:44 PM Page 814