Editing Lunatic (section)

== Use of the term "lunatic" in legislation ==
In the jurisdiction of [[England and Wales]], the [[Madhouses Act 1774]] originated what later became Metropolitan [[Commissioners in Lunacy]], under the Madhouses Act 1828. The Lunacy Acts 1890–1922 referred to "lunatics", but the [[Mental Treatment Act 1930]] changed the legal term to "person of unsound mind", an expression which was replaced under the [[Mental Health Act 1959]] by "[[mental illness]]". "Person of unsound mind" was the term used in 1950 in the English version of the [[European Convention on Human Rights]] as one of the types of person who could be deprived of liberty by a judicial process. The 1930 Act also replaced the term [[Lunatic asylum|"asylum"]] with [[Psychiatric hospital|"mental hospital"]]. Criminal lunatics became [[Broadmoor Hospital|Broadmoor]] patients in 1948 under the [[National Health Service Act 1946]].

On December 5, 2012, the US House of Representatives passed legislation approved earlier by the US Senate removing the word "lunatic" from all federal laws in the United States.<ref name="Sherman" /> President [[Barack Obama]] signed the [[21st Century Language Act of 2012]]<ref>{{cite journal |title=An act to strike the word "lunatic" from Federal law, and for other purposes |journal=United States Statutes at Large, 112th Congress, 2nd Session |date=December 28, 2012 |volume=126 |pages=1619–1620 |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-126/html/STATUTE-126-Pg1619.htm |access-date=March 11, 2020 |id=Public Law 112–231}}</ref> into law on December 28, 2012.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2012/12/28/statement-press-secretary-hj-res-122-hr-3477-hr-3783-hr-3870-hr-3912-hr- |title=Statement by the Press Secretary on H.J. Res. 122, H.R. 3477, H.R. 3783, H.R. 3870, H.R. 3912, H.R. 5738, H.R. 5837, H.R. 5954, H.R. 6116, H.R. 6223, S. 285, S. 1379, S. 2170, S. 2367, S. 3193, S. 3311, S. 3315, S. 3564, and S. 3642 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=December 28, 2012 |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |work=[[whitehouse.gov]] |access-date=27 October 2013}}</ref>

"Of unsound mind" or ''[[non compos mentis]]'' are alternatives to "lunatic", the most conspicuous term used for insanity in the law in the late 19th century.<ref>{{Cite AmCyc |wstitle= Lunacy |volume=X |short=1 }}</ref>