Gotham has Blackgate Prison, which is where the non-insane criminals are typically sent.
The problem with trying to equate Gotham with any real world judicial system is that there's no judicial system on Earth that would allow whatever system Gotham employs to remain in place. Gotham is the most failed criminal justice system in the United States, and the sheer number of citywide, nationwide, and even worldwide crises that its criminal population constantly invoke would prompt any Real Life government to seriously overhaul everything about that city. The problem with Joker Immunity and the Insanity Defense lays solely with how much Gotham utterly fails to protect its populace or keep its criminal population under control.
As for why it's portrayed that way? That's the easiest question in the world: The Writers, Editors, and Publishers Just Don't Care.
edited 20th Oct '11 3:05:57 PM by KingZeal
I like to think that's its something like at the start of the batman movie, where the mobs goons are getting easy sentences at arkham because the mob bosses cut a deal with dr. crane. When that went south, most of those who had pleaded insanity had been in the system too long and had gone insane, whether from the crule experiments, a curse or the corrupting influence of the generally insane inmates (depending on the writer). So arkham is less a cardboard prison and more a revolving door, with loyalty (read: insanity) points for frequent flyers. Of couse, long after this when it would make more sense just to go to insitutes like blackgate, those criminals either are a) not caught as bats and the police are after the big fish, b) killed/corrupted by the big fish, or c) are sent to blackgate and rarely seen again due to the low threat level they pose compared to, say, the joker. (although a comedy duo of normal thugs whos only skill is escaping blackgate and working as dedicate henchmen for the criminal of the week would be awesome).
My understanding (and this may be wrong) is that villains started taking the insanity plea back when U.S. courts were more likely to give out and carry out death sentences, so an explanation had to be cooked up for why these super-criminals weren't being executed.
Although, if Real Life had the insane number of prison escapes that superhero universes have, the death penalty would be a lot more common, even for insane people. The corrections system in such worlds usually reaches failed state levels.
Sure, though I'd also like to second They Just Didn't Care.
Someone could do the research and devote serious thought to the way the Insanity Defense and legal system in general would function in a setting like Gotham, or the DCU or the MU or some other setting with costumed criminals and crimefighters. With the right creative team, you could get a pretty interesting legal drama out of it.
But DC doesn't make legal dramas. They make stories about people punching each other in the face. Which means that making sense of the legal system is a low priority.
For various reasons they NEED to keep the villains alive. With the death penalty in place they need a consistent excuse for it not to apply to the vilains, insanity plea works as well as anything anyone could come up with.
And tbh with the number of escapes in comics it's not death penalties for the insane they need, because presumably the villians would surely manage to escape before their time is due. They want either A: a really quick process or B: better security.
Am I a good man or a bad man?You know, DC needs to make an Oz-like Arkham Asylum ongoing. Then not only they get to keep the money maker villains alive, but to keep starring in the ongoing, they'll have to remain jailed, so they won't be escaping so often and more new Bat-villains will have to be created. A win-win situation, the way I see it.
It's funny you should mention the under-rated Gotham Central. There is this one scene there that I think is very relevant to this thread. Here's the dialogue for you to chew on.
—>Stacy (narrating): Like what happened to Detective Driver. His partner was killed a while back by one of those costumed criminals, Mr. Freeze. You may have even heard about that out on the West Coast. "Super-villain kills cop" still makes the news out there, right? Anyway, so Driver had to testify at Mr. Freeze's competency hearing...
—>Mr. Freeze's Lawyer: —and how would you characterize my client's demeanor during the assault?
—>Driver: His demeanor? I'm not a psychologist.
—>Mr. Freeze's Lawyer: Would you say he was rational?
—>Driver: Again, I'm not a psychologist.
—>Mr. Freeze's Lawyer: But you are the only living witness. So, Detective, in your view, was my client acting rationally when he attacked you and your partner?
—>(Beat, with Mr. Freeze looking down, and not looking at anything in particular).
—>(Beat, with Driver looking down, and pondering his answer).
—>Driver (looking up): That doesn't matter. It doesn't excuse him.
—>The Judge: Just answer the question, Detective.
—>Driver (pointing a finger at Mr. Freeze): I'm sorry, Your Honor, but...that man killed cops without a second thought. Is that rational behavior, to freeze people and smash them into bits? I'd have to say no. But I don't care. He killed cops, he killed my partner. If he was just some street punk, he'd be on death row right now...(Mr. Freeze is now looking up and looking at Driver)...but he's not, he's a freak, and no matter what I say up here, you're just going to cart him off to Arkham until he gets the chance to do this all over again.
—>(Beat, with no one having anything to say).
—>(Later on) Driver: God, I'm such an idiot...lucky I didn't get fined for contempt...
—>Davies: You said what had to be said, Marcus. No shame in that. We all knew how it was gonna shake down.
For the record, this series was done by writers Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka and artist Michael Lark. You say that They Just Didn't Care, and that probably is true for some of them. These three certainly cared to demonstrate the injustice done with super-villains and call it out. These three clearly don't think Mr. Freeze is that sympathetic or cool (Ha, ha!). The fact is, he killed cops without blinking over it, and having a dying wife does not balance that out.
edited 23rd Oct '11 5:45:46 AM by TiggersAreGreat
Oh, Equestria, we stand on guard for thee!Well yeah, of course Brubaker and Rucka care. They're damn good crime writers. Not everyone in the "people in costumes punching each other in the face" business is like them.
That being said, I find Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds to be one of the most sympathetic character types, if not the most. Doesn't mean it makes sense for the criminal justice system to keep sending him back to a Cardboard Prison, but they have to rationalize Joker Immunity somehow.
tl;dr
Since most of you seem to be talking about Gotham I'll assume someone's brought up the fact that Gotham is hilariously, ridiculously, absurdly corrupt, a breeding ground for superhumans that any sane government would nuke without warning.
Well, it's cursed. It's kind of an ass-pull and something most batman fans don't seem to like, but for twenty years they've sporadically acknowledged some super-voodoo mojo-jojo goin' on in Gotham. It's pretty much a genius locus bat demon.
edited 22nd Oct '11 11:03:09 PM by Canondorf
Because they don't want anyone interfering with how they run things.

If there's one topic out of many that I find interesting, it's the Insanity Defense (or the Insanity Plea). That would be where you claim that you were insane at the time you committed a crime. In Real Life, this is rarely used, and it might not even be a good idea to use this in the first place. In fiction, especially Comic Books, this is used all the time.
Just check out Batman. The villains use this whenever they get arrested and put on trial. They tend to be placed in Arkham Asylum as a result. Does Gotham City have any buildings that actually qualify as a prison? At least one legal expert in Real Life has pointed out just how unlikely and ridiculous the use of the Insanity Plea in this storyline is. I have to agree that it comes off as Loophole Abuse.
This leads me to asking a big question: why? Why is the Insanity Plea portrayed like this? Is it because You Fail Law Forever? Is it to show just how much of a Crapsack World Gotham City is? I'd like to hear your thoughts on this.
edited 20th Oct '11 10:57:03 AM by TiggersAreGreat
Oh, Equestria, we stand on guard for thee!