Durham rule

noun

: a formerly used legal test under which a person was not judged responsible for a criminal act that was attributed to a mental disorder

Word History

Etymology

Monte Durham, 20th century American litigant

First Known Use

1955, in the meaning defined above

Legal Definition

Durham rule

noun

Dur·​ham rule

ˈdu̇r-əm-, ˈdər-

: a rule of criminal law used in some states that holds that in order to find a defendant not guilty by reason of insanity the defendant's criminal act must be the product of a mental disease or defect compare irresistible impulse test, m'naghten test, substantial capacity test

Etymology

from Durham v. United States, 214 F.2d 862 (1954), a case heard by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals that established the rule