The Insanity Defense for Sex Offenders: Jury Decisions After Repeal of Wisconsin's Sex Crimes Law

After repeal of a Wisconsin statute permitting hospitalization of defendants convicted of sexual crimes, the authors noted an increase in the percentage of sex offenders among persons hospitalized after being found not guilty by reason of insanity. They also found that a greater proportion of hospitalized sex offenders than of other kinds of offenders were diagnosed as nonpsychotic. Illustrating with three case studies, the authors argue that despite trends away from the therapeutic model of corrections, juries continue to make decisions that provide treatment for defendants perceived to need it, even if the legal criteria for those decisions do not appear to be met.