MLchartDataset catalogue

Durham test

Term · Law · MLC-T-LAW-005336

A rule for the insanity defense, established in the 1954 case Durham v. United States, stating that a defendant is not criminally responsible if their unlawful act was the "product of mental disease or defect." This test was broader than the M'Naghten rule, as it did not require a lack of cognitive understanding of the act's wrongfulness. The Durham test was later abandoned by most jurisdictions, including the federal courts, due to its vagueness and reliance on psychiatric testimony.

Table 1. Record
IdentifierMLC-T-LAW-005336
FieldLaw
Record as JSON 
{
  "id": "MLC-T-LAW-005336",
  "term": "Durham test",
  "field": "Law",
  "definition": "A rule for the insanity defense, established in the 1954 case Durham v. United States, stating that a defendant is not criminally responsible if their unlawful act was the \"product of mental disease or defect.\" This test was broader than the M'Naghten rule, as it did not require a lack of cognitive understanding of the act's wrongfulness. The Durham test was later abandoned by most jurisdictions, including the federal courts, due to its vagueness and reliance on psychiatric testimony.",
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/law/durham-test/"
}

Record 1,665 of 5,445 in Law terminology (MLC-0107). Request the full dataset.