Editing Long Island Rail Road shooting (section)

===="Black rage" defense====
{{anchor|Black rage}}Kunstler and Kuby proposed an innovative defense: Ferguson had been driven to [[insanity defense|temporary insanity]] by a psychiatric condition they termed "black rage".<ref name="Scott Gregory">{{cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,980835,00.html |url-access=limited |title=Black Rage: In Defense of a Mass Murderer |magazine=Time |first=Sophfronia |last=Scott Gregory |date=June 6, 1994 |access-date=July 15, 2019}}</ref> Kunstler and Kuby argued Ferguson had been driven insane by racial prejudice and could not be held [[Legal liability|criminally liable]] for his actions, even though he had committed the killings.<ref name="Rabinovitz0407" /> The attorneys compared it to the utilization of the [[battered woman defense]], [[posttraumatic stress disorder]], and the [[child abuse syndrome]] in other cases to negate [[criminal liability]].<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Kuby |first1=Ron |author-link1=Ron Kuby |last2=Kunstler |first2=William |author-link2=William Kunstler |title=An Insanity Defense In L.I.R.R. Massacre |work=The New York Times |date=April 28, 1994 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/28/opinion/l-an-insanity-defense-in-lirr-massacre-920509.html |url-access=limited |access-date=November 7, 2009}}</ref> Kuby said the notes carried by Ferguson on the day of his arrest demonstrated that Ferguson was motivated by rage during the shootings.<ref name="Marks0812">{{Cite news |last=Marks |first=Peter |title=L.I.R.R. Case Again Raises Sanity Issue |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/12/nyregion/lirr-case-again-raises-sanity-issue.html |url-access=limited |access-date=November 7, 2009 |date=August 12, 1994}}</ref> Donald E. Belfi, the Nassau County Judge assigned to the Ferguson case, criticized Kunstler for speaking to the media about the proposed defense before it had been examined by a mental health professional. Belfi said "Mr. Kunstler may have many talents, but until he receives his medical degree with a specialty in psychiatry, these types of conclusions should best be left for medical experts and the triers of the facts."<ref name="Hoffman0423" />

Black rage was first proposed by psychologists William Henry Grier and Price Cobbs in their 1968 book, ''[[Black Rage (book)|Black Rage]]'' ({{ISBN|1-57910-349-9}}). Grier and Cobbs argue that black people living in a racist, white supremacist society are psychologically damaged by the effects of racist oppression. They argue that this damage causes black people to act abnormally in certain situations.

Ferguson started to claim he was not involved in the Long Island Rail Road shootings at all, and repeatedly refused to meet with a psychiatrist chosen by Kunstler and Kuby. Ferguson told the attorneys he was receiving messages straight from God, and spoke of conspiracies to destroy him by those opposed to God.<ref name="Marks0812" /> On August 12, 1994, Kunstler and Kuby asked Judge Belfi to reconsider Ferguson's competence to stand trial, claiming he was growing more delusional, paranoid and obsessive by the day, and that he was too mentally unbalanced for them to mount any kind of defense.<ref name="Marks0812" /> George Peck, the prosecutor in Ferguson's trial, insisted Ferguson's apparent lack of cooperation with his lawyers was a defense tactic to avoid a trial.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McQuiston |first=John T. |work=The New York Times |date=October 21, 1994 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/21/nyregion/suspect-in-lirr-slayings-may-dismiss-his-lawyer.html |url-access=limited |access-date=November 7, 2009 |title=Suspect in L.I.R.R. Slayings May Dismiss His Lawyer}}</ref>

On August 20, 1994, Ferguson appeared before Belfi and rejected his lawyer's efforts to have him declared mentally unfit to stand trial. Ferguson spoke in a long and rambling manner, occasionally ignoring Belfi when the judge tried to interrupt him. Ferguson claimed a police officer who escorted him from the Nassau County Jail said to him, "You realize someone else, in fact, was actually responsible for the shooting."<ref name="Marks0820" /> When asked if Ferguson understood the role of the prosecuting attorney, Ferguson replied; "to perpetrate injustices against me".<ref name="Marks0820" /> Kunstler and Kuby argued Ferguson's behavior was indicative of his mental imbalance, but Belfi refused the lawyers' request to reconsider his competence, citing the original psychiatric report that concluded Ferguson was able to understand the charges against him and was "[[malingering]] in an attempt to create an impression" that he was mentally imbalanced and unable to cooperate with his attorney. When Belfi ended the proceeding, Ferguson tried to continue talking. After he was placed into handcuffs by guards, Ferguson shouted "they have made it too tight," collapsed to the floor, and had to be dragged from the courtroom.<ref name="Marks0820" /> Denis Dillon suggested Kunstler was trying to create "such a bizarre situation" that the court would reverse its earlier ruling regarding Ferguson's competence.<ref name="McQuiston0920">{{Cite news |last=McQuiston |first=John T. |title=Lawyers in Rail Slayings File for Insanity Defense |work=The New York Times |date=September 20, 1994 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/20/nyregion/lawyers-in-rail-slayings-file-for-insanity-defense.html |url-access=limited |access-date=November 7, 2009}}</ref>