Public Drunkenness Statutes: An Insanity Defense

Abstract

This article first focuses on the situation of the chronic alcoholic charged with public drunkenness and on judicial treatment of the special defense of chronic alcoholism. The analysis compares identifiable lines of judicial thought about the defense with the opinions and conclusions of medical, psychological and sociological experts. The article considers case law regarding the treatment of so-called "status crimes" and case law addressing conditions arguably diminishing individual criminal responsibility. Thereafter, utilizing common-law concepts of personal accountability, a chronic alcoholism defense to public drunlkenness is formulated.

Keywords: chronic alcoholism, voluntariness, status crimes, criminal responsibility, Powell, Texas, drunkenness