Brook v. State

¶1(dissenting in part). I must dissent from that part of the opinion which implies the psychopath “concept” ought not to be frozen into the law because the medical profession may in the future consider it to constitute insanity. The medical terms “psychopath” and “sociopath” contain many concepts which carry different meanings to different psychiatrists. It is not for us to adopt one meaning of the term unless we define it in relation to the legal test of insanity. To date we have implied that psychopath is essentially some form of a personality defect which does not prevent such a person from being responsible under our legal test of insanity even though some schools of psychiatry may consider a psychopath to be medically insane. We must distinguish, as the legal test of insanity does, between legal insanity and medical insanity and not confuse the two. The majority opinion implies that what is now designated as a personality defect under the term “psychopath” may in the future be generally considered by the medical profession to be insanity. If the medical profession does, it would not change the legal test but merely the concept of what medical insanity should embrace. To avoid confusion, it is better for this court to consider individual cases in terms of the legal standard rather than in the language and discipline of the medical profession. For this reason, I would not equate a medical term with its varying medical meanings with our legal standard of insanity or criminal responsibility.