@article {FelthousJAAPL.210054-21, author = {Alan R. Felthous}, title = {Rationality Was Lost on the United States Supreme Court in Its Kahler Decision}, elocation-id = {JAAPL.210054-21}, year = {2021}, doi = {10.29158/JAAPL.210054-21}, publisher = {Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online}, abstract = {In its recent Kahler decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Kansas{\textquoteright} abolition of the state{\textquoteright}s insanity defense was constitutional. It did so by framing the matter as a choice between the state{\textquoteright}s mens rea defense and a moral capacity defense, then mischaracterizing the mens rea defense as a type of insanity defense. In analyzing the two approaches, the Court missed the fundamental importance of rationality in criminal mental responsibility, a constitutional requirement for other criminal competencies, and a condition well described in the Court{\textquoteright}s Panetti ruling. The Court{\textquoteright}s acceptance of the abolition of a special insanity defense is a public policy in the direction of further criminalizing and punishing rather than providing prompt and proper treatment to those with serious mental illness, at a time when increasing modern research demonstrates the success of insanity acquittee dispositions with improved treatment and management resulting in lower rates of relapse and criminal recidivism.}, issn = {1093-6793}, URL = {https://jaapl.org/content/early/2021/12/21/JAAPL.210054-21}, eprint = {https://jaapl.org/content/early/2021/12/21/JAAPL.210054-21.full.pdf}, journal = {Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online} }