I never thought I would see members treating mental illness so cavalierly at this site.

To say people are responsible for their actions is a truism. That truism does not end the inquiry. To be held accountable, the person must have the mental capacity to commit a crime. Criminal responsibility, therefore, deals with whether a person can be held legally responsible for his criminal behavior.

Mental capacity: the degree of understanding and memory the law requires to uphold the validity of or to charge one with responsibility for a particular act or transaction < mental capacity to commit crime requires that the accused know right from wrong>

Capital punishment: putting a condemned person to death.

The Greeks and Romans wrestled with mental illness and insanity centuries ago. The insanity defense has been controversial ever since. Even so, the US and other countries of the world require the government to prove criminal intent to get a conviction.

In Ford v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 399 (1986), the US Supreme Court upheld the common law* rule that the insane cannot be executed.

*Common law, also known as case law, is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action.