Menstruation (or menstruation), which is generally considered taboo, can now be a legally recognized cause for women who commit crimes. The Supreme Court of Rajasthan has acquitted a woman who murdered a child due to a mental illness caused by premenstrual syndrome (PMS) at the time the crime was committed. While the court is to be commended for recognizing a disease that is not generally recognized in India, the compliments should pretty much stop there. While most common law jurisdictions seem to struggle to defend the folly induced by MPS, it is not a plea that has gained much traction in the legal community. In fact, it has been widely controversial because of its anti-feminist potential. Moreover, in the 1980s, when advocacy was experimented in each of these jurisdictions, medical data to confirm PMS as a disease was also insufficient. Since then, PMS has established itself as a well-recognized disease in Western medical dictionaries. Brahams, D., 1983. Epilepsy and Legal Madness R. v. Sullivan.
Practitioner 227-421-423. Although there are a limited number of cases related to PMDD, there are a number of recent cases where “severe premenstrual syndrome (PMS)” has been cited as a defensive and/or mitigating factor. More recently, the Supreme Court of Rajasthan in India acquitted a woman accused of murder because she was suffering from “PMS-induced insanity” at the time of her crime. Pahl-Smith, C., 1985. Premenstrual syndrome as a criminal defense The need for forensic understanding. North Carolina Central Law Journal 13-246-273. Carney, R. Williams, M. and B.
D. Williams, 1983. Notre Dame Law Review 69-253-269. Ford, J. R., 1983. In defense of defenders Vietnam`s veterinary syndrome. Criminal Law Bulletin 19-434-441. Chambers, M., 1982. Menstrual stress as a legal defense.
New York Times, May 29, p. 46. PMS can be effective as an affirmative defence to a criminal complaint if the defendant can prove that (i) he or she had PMS at the time of the offence; and (ii) because of his condition, either because the offence was an unintentional act or because at the time of the offence he did not have the mental state required by law to commit an offence. PMS has been successfully asserted as a criminal defence in the UK, but has not been tested in US criminal courts. However, due to the increase in behavioral, psychological, and physiological studies that accurately characterize PMS and elucidate the criteria necessary for its accurate diagnosis, it may now be possible for the defendant to make this defense in a U.S. court. This article discusses (i) the use of recent scientific data to prove the existence of premenstrual syndrome; (ii) the use of standardized psychological or physiological tests to demonstrate that the defendant suffers from premenstrual syndrome; and (iii) the legal decisions and evidentiary hurdles to overcome when presenting a premenstrual syndrome defence. Currently, “PMS” madness” (not our choice of words) would be recognized in France, the UK and a small number of other countries. In the United States, however, attempts to enforce this defense are met with resistance, particularly from organizations who fear it perpetuates the image of a woman enslaved to her hormones. What cannot be ignored, however, is the rapid growth of women in the legal system and the gender gap in mental health. Packer, I. K., 1983.
Post-traumatic stress disorder and defending madness A critical analysis. Zeitschrift für Psychiatrie und Recht 11 125-136. Arenella, P., 1977. The diminishing effectiveness and responsibility defends two children from a doomed marriage. Columbia Law Review 77-827-865. Taylor, L., & Dalton, K., 1983. Premenstrual Syndrome A New Criminal Defense California Western Law Review 19-269-287. Press, M. P., 1983. Premenstrual stress syndrome as a defense in critical cases. Duke Law Journal 1983 176-195.
The late Dr. Katherine Dalton has served as an expert witness in many high-profile criminal cases. She first studied the syndrome as a GP in North London and later ran the world`s first PMS clinic. Dalton described depression, irritability and transient psychosis as the three most common symptoms of PMS in women who have committed illegal activities and patterns of criminal behavior. Holtzman, E., 1984. Premenstrual syndrome Untenable defense. Harvard Women`s Law Journal 7 1-3. Although PMS is not clearly defined as a disorder, PMDD has been clearly defined by the American Psychiatric Association`s (DSM-IV) Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
It is also clear that a comprehensive distinction between the two conditions is made and understood, both medically and legally. While there is often an unfounded debate about whether or not PMDD should be a diagnosis, it is important to understand the pathology and symptoms of PMDD when it comes not only to treatment, but also to the court. Hardyman, D., 1978-79. Reduced Capacity Defense in California An idea whose time has passed Glendale Law Review 3 311-321. Krausz, F. R., 1983. The relevance of the Innocence Proposal 8 and the defence of diminished capacity. California Law Review 71-1197-1215. In 1980-81, two British women escaped murder convictions by arguing that their legal responsibility was reduced by premenstrual syndrome (PMS). In a fit of rage, Sandie Craddock, an East London bartender who had already been convicted 45 times, stabbed her three times in the heart (Regina v. Craddock, 1981, 1 C.L. 49; see also Apodaca & Fink, 1984; Carney and Williams, 1983).
Christine English ran him and her car over a utility pole after an argument with her lover (Regina v. English, unpublished Norwich Crown Court decision of 10 November 1981; see also Apodaca & Fink, 1984, p. 54; Carney and Williams, 1983, p. 261). With the help of the testimony of Dr. Katharina Dalton, the world`s foremost advocate for PMS victims, each woman was convicted only of manslaughter because of her reduced guilt by PMS. Most notably, neither woman was punished for their murder: Craddock received a suspended sentence; English, a 12-month parole with a driving ban. About a year after her conviction, Craddock (now Smith) was rearrested for attempted ambiguous murder of a police officer; Smith was found guilty of three new charges and again argued for the PMS to reduce his sentence and received another conditional sentence.
These judgements were upheld on appeal. According to magazine articles and Dalton (see his chapter, this volume), Craddock and English are just two of the many British and Canadian defendants who reduce their criminal responsibility by invoking PMS. TRIGGER WARNING This article, this section and the pages to which it links contain information about the violence that can trigger for people with PMDD. In this article, we will begin to look at the TDP and EMP within the legal system. As fellow sufferers, we understand that this is a difficult subject and that it may upset some. Please take care of yourself and ask for help if necessary. D`Orban, P. T., 1983. Medizinisch-rechtliche Aspekte des prämenstruellen Syndroms.
British Journal of Hospital Medicine 30-404-409. In 2012, Rosanna Langer of the Department of Law and Justice at Laurentian University in Ontario, Canada, published an article in the International Journal of Criminology and Sociology entitled “That Time of Month: Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder in the Criminal Law-Another Look. In this article, Langer argues that women with PMDD should have a range of legal defenses that accurately reflect guilt.
