There is a problem in or with the use of the Durham Rule in legal proceedings. Despite Congress finding insanity pleas to be constitutional, the insanity plea being taken advantage of is occurring. This problem has negatively impacted the credibility of the judicial system because the insanity plea is allowing criminals to take advantage of the system. A possible cause of this problem is the Durham Rule. Perhaps a study which investigates if the Durham Rule is ethically and morally correct by interviews of professors could remedy this situation.

The research is significant because it will be able to rework the insanity plea and make the rules and guidelines for the plea more concrete and relate more to the actual psychological part of the plea deal.  

Austynlee Blais 

The Durham Rule is not morally and ethically correct on the basis that it is not morally correct to allow criminals to plea insanity based on the Durham Rule and not have to provide a medical diagnosis of a mental illness. 

Durham Rule: a criminal defendant can't be convicted of a crime if the act was the result of a mental disease or defect the defendant had at the time of the incident. It has often been referred to as the "product defect rule," but doesn't require a medical diagnosis of mental illness or disorder. 

Criminal Proceedings: any trial conducted in a court in front of a judge 

I will be using interviews in order to analyze the differing opinions of professors from University of Washington and University of New Hampshire in order to compare and contrast their professional opinions of the Durham Rule. 

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