The execution of the mentally ill has sparked debate over whether people who suffer from a diagnosed mental illness that are convicted of a capital crime should be sentenced to death by the state.
Ford v. Wainwright
The 1986 case of Ford v. Wainwright ruled that execution of the insane should be considered cruel and unusual punishment, a violation of the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Panetti v. Quarterman
Scott Louis Panetti was convicted of capital murder in Texas during the early 1990s. Though he was originally sentenced to the death penalty, the courts later ruled against execution on the basis that Panetti did not rationally understand why he was going to be killed.
Execution of the Mentally Ill Central Figures and Organizations
- Scott Louis Panetti
- Chicago Tribune: Top court spares life of mentally ill killer (2007)
- American Civil Liberties Union
- American Civil Liberties Union: "Death Mentally Ill" Search
- Death Penalty Information Center
- Death Penalty Information Center: Mental Illness and the Death Penalty
- Abolish The Death Penalty: Offending Justice
- NCADP: Court Finds Death Penalty if One Juror Finds Retardation
- NCADP: IQ Debate Unsettled in Death Penalty Cases
References
Fast Facts
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Some mental illnesses include
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Fact:
Many death row inmates were victims of physical and sexual abuse as children
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Fact:
Insane convicts cannot be executed
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Fact:
Many death row inmates with extreme mental illnesses are not insane
