Madness is one of those words that is used today and is used a lot. Our society has become so desensitized to this because we experience it on a regular basis. Albert Einstein described insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” Albert Einstein may have been a genius, but in this case he was wrong. There are people in this world who are mentally crazy and they can't help themselves. On rare occasions, these people become killers. In the legal system, we have a defense that an accused murderer can use to demonstrate that he or she was not of sound mind at the time the act was committed. This is the defense against insanity. This occurs in 1% of criminal trials in the United States (US). A perfect example of a case using the insanity defense is Andrea Yates v. State of Texas. Andrea Yates' life started out completely normal. She graduated first in her high school class, became a registered nurse at the Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, met the love of her life and got married. His life seems as normal as anyone's. Four months after giving birth to her fourth child, something changed. She made her first suicide attempt by swallowing 40 to 50 sleeping pills. She was hospitalized in a psychiatric facility and diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Her doctor's attempts to treat her failed. She was released due to insurance restrictions and according to Charles Patrick Ewing, a forensic psychologist and attorney who wrote the book Insanity, Murder, Madness, and the Law, "her family is committed to keeping a close eye on the patient ". Several months after his hospitalization, his mental health deteriorated. She lost 13 pounds, had no energy, slept all day and had poor memory and preoccupation...... middle of paper......n of her- even. This is not a luxury that prison does not offer. These people need to be punished for their crimes, but they also need to be helped. Works Cited Ewing, Charles Patrick. Insanity: Murder, madness and the law / Charles Patrick Ewing. np: New York: Oxford University Press, 2008., 2008. OCC Library Catalog. Internet. February 10, 2014. Simon, Rita James. The jury and the insanity defense. Boston: Little Brown, 1967. Print. OCC Library Catalog. Internet. February 10, 2014. Erickson, Patricia E. and Steven K. Erickson. Crime, punishment and mental illness: law and behavioral science in conflict / Patricia E. Erickson, Steven K. Erickson. np: New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, c2008., 2008. OCC Library Catalog. Internet. February 10, 2014. Garner, Bryan A. Black's Legal Dictionary. 7th ed. St. Paul, Minnesota: West Publishing, 2009. Print.