Mental Incapacitation: Death Penalty People who are diagnosed as mentally disabled should be exempt from the death penalty for the crimes they have committed. In the case of 54 year old Marvin Wilson there is substantial evidence to show that he was mentally disabled. Rudolf says, “School records showed Wilson fared poorly in school, earning Ds and Fs in special education classes, and failing 7th grade.” He did not do well in school at all, but the officials involved in the case have decided his fate using a non-approved test that they have made up. “Texas, unlike any other death penalty state, measures mental retardation using nonclinical standards invented by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals” (Khalek). This test is highly unfounded and
Therefore the question that should be asked is, Is the execution of a defendant with intellectual disabilities (mental retardation) cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the Eighth Amendment ("FindLaw's United States Supreme Court case and opinions.",
In the case of Moore v. Texas, “the Supreme Court will face the question of whether it is a violation of the Eighth Amendment to use outdated medical standards in assessing intellectual disabilities to determine whether an individual may be executed.” This really stood out to me, to think that he committed the act of a murder in 1980, when he took the life of a grocery store clerk and they are questioning if he should face the consequences that he was given. In my opinion if you chose to take the life of any individual you must pay for your actions, I feel that many people use “intellectual disability” as a way to avoid being put to death. I do agree many people have mental sickness such as “schizophrenia, bipolar disorders etc” but if you
People often are guilty of letting things that are out of sight be out of their mind, but human rights should not be something overlooked. The imprisoned mentally ill has been often overlooked and there voices are not heard as they struggle everyday in inhumane conditions. The eight amendment states that no cruel and unusual punishments is to be inflicted upon the prisoners. Is the United Sates prison systems treating mentally ill prisoners according to the eight amendment? The largest prison rates belong to the United states and of those imprisoned, around the world, they are ten times more likely to be suffering from a mental illness (Mills, 2007).
Conferring to Anderson, & Hewitt, (2002), “individuals who show clinically significant improvement in general psychopathology are more likely to be perceived as restored to competency.” However, 50% of people who are diagnosed with mental retardation or acquired cognitive deficits are not restored; such mental disorders render the suspect irresponsive to the required court
Texas holds the title for the state with most executions in the United States gaining heavy scrutiny for the use of death penalty. Many are concerned that the death penalty is in direct violation of the 8th amendment of the constitution which forbids the act of cruel and unusual punishment as well as being wrong on a moral level. This becomes a hot button issue when mental illness comes into play as 30% of Texas's incarcerated inmates, have been clients of the state’s mental health system (“Texas Death Penalty”). Andre Lee Thomas is one of those inmates, sentenced to death, but also deemed mentally unstable.
The lethal injection executions illustrates a constitutional violation of the branch 's overreach as described by the 8th amendment due to its cases bring either successful in the execution or providing sufferable pain to death row inmates. One of the current problems in the Judicial branch is the use of lethal injection towards execution sessions. Lethal injection is an injection that is administered for the purpose of euthanasia and capital punishment. There are two methods of lethal injection today, one using a three drug protocol and the 2nd being the large dose of barbiturate. Lethal injection is used for capital punishment as it follows the 8th amendment we have today.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision, it was decided that executing the mentally impaired abused the Eighth and
I agree with the author’s counter argument to the criticism of the defense being discriminatory towards those who are poor. The comparison is moot. The line between a poor person under extreme duress and a mentally ill person can be blurred at times. However, if a poor person commits a crime and are deemed mentally ill then, they should be excused. That is what society has deemed acceptable.
The Eighth Amendment is all about punishment. In the Amendment it states, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”, as well as allowing the Death Penalty. I believe this Amendment is right. Because of the fact that cruel and unusual punishment wouldn’t be fun, I believe the Death Penalty should be legal, and excessive fines would be crushing to our economy. Cruel and unusual punishment would not be fun.
Most mentally ill people who are convicted on capital charges should not be executed, for three such reasons. Firstly, the executions would violate equal protection of the laws in any jurisdiction in which execution of children and people with mental illness of any kind that psychologically cannot fully comprehend what they are committing is barred. Secondly, many death sentences imposed on people with mental illness violate due process more so because their mental illness is treated by the aggravating factor, either directly or to create a separate aggravating circumstance. Thirdly, many mentally ill offenders, who are sentenced to death, will be so impaired to what is fully going on at the time of execution that they can not emotionally understand the significance of their punishment. Thus, they cannot be executed under the eighth amendment; Regarding this, the latter conclusion is required even if they are cured through some sort of treatment.
Although the death penalty in Texas costs about three times more than life in prison without parole, it is reserved as the punishment of robbing another of their rights to life, freedom, and safety (Deathpenaltyinfo). It is a valid question to wonder why we should spare the life of one, opting to provide for all of their basics needs when they without question robbed another of their rights to life, freedom, and safety through murder or another cruel action. The case of Andre Thomas raised questions of whether or not the mentally incompetent should be eligible for the death penalty. Thomas murdered two children and the wife he was separated from, maintaining that the act was dictated by God. Statements by Thomas conveyed that he knew that what he had done was wrong after he had after committing the crime.
A life of severe disability, is not a life worth living. Therefore, an infant born with a severe physical or cognitive impairment should not be allowed to live. Or any person for that matter, regardless of age who suffers from a severe cognitive disability should be lawfully killed. At least that is a belief held by a certain professor at Princeton University. Harriet McBryde Johnson, a disability advocate and lawyer had the opportunity to debate these beliefs with Professor Peter Singer.
If juveniles have a mental disability they should not be sentenced to life in prison without parole, especially when it is a non homicidal crime. When children experience neglect and abuse it can take them down a dark path, which often leads to jail. Joe Sullivan's case is an example of this. As a child, Joe suffered from childhood abuse, which included both physical and sexual assault. This abuse took a toll on his mental state and led him to be easily manipulated by older kids.
They argued that no intellectually disabled person should be executed under the basis of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution (APA, 1989). They argued that the disabilities related to intellectual disability are directly correlated to a criminal responsibility and the punishment for the criminal activity. They stated that if a person is intellectually disabled they are unable to not only understand their actions, but control their actions because they do not have the cognitive or behavior development that should have occurred during their development (APA, 1989). People with intellectual disabilities have a reduced ability to cope and function in the world because they have severe impairments in judgment making, logical reasoning, strategic thinking, and control of their impulsivity. This relates to the level of their ability to conform to the law’s requirements and to the degree of the defendant’s blame which is an integral part of the insanity defense.
This line from the article explains that the court didn’t think it was right to execute minors, but still did it in certain cases. In addition, the court found it unconstitutional to execute other categories of people. The article states,”(The Court had also, in 2002, held it to be a violation of the Eighth Amendment to execute mentally retarded persons.) " This excerpt points out that it is illegal to execute people with mental disabilities. Lastly, the court had to decide whether this case violated the Eighth Amendment.