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Mental Illness

NEW RESOURCES: The Supreme Court’s Emerging Death Penalty Jurisprudence: Severe Mental Illness as the Next Frontier

Posted: November 06, 2008
in

Professor Bruce Winick of the Miami School of Law has written an article arguing that the Supreme Court should extend the protection it presently offers to those with mental retardation and juveniles to offenders with severe mental illness, as well.

Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights and the National Alliance on Mental Illness To Launch National Project

Posted: September 19, 2008
in


Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights (MVFHR) and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) are working together to launch a national project concerned with the intersection of the capital punishment system and people with severe mental illness.

 

Federal Judge Sharply Criticizes Texas System in Ordering Stay of Execution

Posted: August 21, 2008
in

Jeff Wood’s execution was stayed with only hours remaining by U.S. District Court Judge Orlando Garcia of San Antonio. The judge chastised the Texas courts for their refusal last week to hire mental health experts to determine whether Wood (pictured) was insane or appoint a lawyer to represent him for a competency hearing.

Pennsylvania Court Allows Forced Medication of Mentally Incompetent Death Row Inmates, Moving Them Closer to Execution

Posted: July 25, 2008
in

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently ruled that the state can force two death row inmates to take anti-psychotic medication so they are mentally competent enough to proceed with their appeals and be executed. The two inmates were sentenced to death but were found incompetent to participate in the appeals filed on their behalf. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that mentally incompetent inmates may not be executed.

Pennsylvania Court Allows Forced Medication of Mentally Incompetent Death Row Inmates, Moving Them Closer to Execution

Posted: July 23, 2008
in

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently ruled that the state can force two death row inmates to take anti-psychotic medication so they are mentally competent enough to proceed with their appeals and be executed. The two inmates were sentenced to death but were found incompetent to participate in the appeals filed on their behalf. The U.S.

VA Governor Commutes Death Sentence of Mentally Ill Man

Posted: June 10, 2008
in
Walton

Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine commuted the death sentence of Percy Walton (pictured) to life in prison without parole. Kaine cancelled the execution, scheduled for 9pm on June 10, because “one cannot reasonably conclude that Walton is fully aware of the punishment he is about to suffer and why he is to suffer it”.

Severely Mentally Ill Death Row Inmate Resentenced to Life 27 Years After Crime

Posted: June 04, 2008
in
Richard Taylor, a death row inmate in Tennessee suffering from severe mental illness, was resentenced to life without the possibility of parole after a plea bargain with the state. Taylor was convicted and sentenced to death for the killing of a prison guard in 1981 after the prison had stopped giving him his anti-psychotic medication.

NEW RESOURCES: Sentence Reversals in Mental Retardation Cases

Posted: May 30, 2008
in
Prof. John Blume of Cornell University Law School has compiled the cases in which an inmate's death sentence was reduced because of a finding of mental retardation. His research revealed 83 such reversals since 2002. In Atkins v. Virginia (2002), the U.S. Supreme Court held that it is unconstitutional to apply the death penalty to defendants with mental retardation. The Court did not, however, establish a definition for mental retardation or determine the procedures for proving a claim of retardation. Some states have not yet passed legislation to determine this process.

District Court Deems Scott Panetti Mentally Competent for Execution in Texas

Posted: May 30, 2008
in
U.S. District Court Judge Sam Sparks in Texas has ruled Scott Panetti mentally competent enough to be executed. Panetti’s earlier path to execution was blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard his appeal in 2007 (Panetti v. Quarterman). The Court held that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit had used too narrow a standard in deciding whether Panetti had an understanding of why he was to be executed.

Death Sentence and Conviction of Mentally Ill Tennessee Man Reversed

Posted: March 12, 2008
in
On March 7, 2008, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the conviction and death sentence of Richard Taylor. The court's ruling grants Taylor a new trial due to a variety of constitutional errors at his original trial. These errors include the denial of his constitutional right to counsel at a pre-trial competency hearing, the failure of the trial court to hold a competency hearing during the trial, and the failure of the trial court to appoint advisory counsel.
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