Innovative defenses (the invention of which is sometimes called creative lawyering) are relatively new and untried defenses for having committed a criminal act. Being innovative, there is little or no precedent bearing upon them. Such defenses include:
- the abuse defense
- Battered woman defence
- premenstrual stress syndrome
- the biological defense (the "Twinkie Defense")
- "Black rage"
- urban survival syndrome.
Parodies of innovative defenses are sometimes seen in entertainment, for example the Chewbacca Defense.
Famous quotes containing the words innovative and/or defense:
“A conventional good read is usually a bad read, a relaxing bath in what we know already. A true good read is surely an act of innovative creation in which we, the readers, become conspirators.”
—Malcolm Bradbury (b. 1932)
“From a bed in this hotel Seargent S. Prentiss arose in the middle of the night and made a speech in defense of a bedbug that had bitten him. It was heard by a mock jury and judge, and the bedbug was formally acquitted.”
—Federal Writers’ Project Of The Wor, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)