Mental Retardation & the Death Penalty

Policy Paper: Mental Retardation and the Death Penalty

Of the 38 states that now allow the death penalty, some 15 exempt the mentally retarded from its reach - a policy that is also maintained by the federal government (Wilson, 2001). Public opinion, according to sociologist James Q. Wilson (2001), is generally opposed to the use of the death penalty in the case of a mentally retarded convicted offender; some two-thirds of respondents in a June, 2001, Fox Television News Poll indicated that they opposed execution for the mentally retarded even when these individuals have been convicted of premeditated murder. The debate over whether or not the death penalty should be imposed in the case of a mentally retarded individual centers, according to Michael B. Ross (1999), on the question of whether or not such an individual is legally competent to assist in his or her own defense at trial and, as significantly, if that individual is unable to assume responsibility for his or her actions because of diminished capacity.

The debate over executing individuals who are mentally retarded - as distinguished from executing individuals who are declared to be "legally" or "criminally insane," which speaks to an significantly different issue - is emotionally charged (Fellner, 2001). Fellner (2001) reported that at least 35 mentally retarded defendants have been executed in the United States since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. Further, experts est

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etardation as an exemption from capital punishment does damage to the victims of crime, their families and loved ones, and unfairly discriminates against other classes of defendants (Wilson, 2001). Related Programs and Activities As noted above, 38 states in America now allow the death penalty, 15 states exempt the mentally retarded, and the federal government has voluntarily chosen a policy of not executing mentally retarded federal prisoners convicted of a capital crime (Wilson, 2001). The ABA has urged the U.S. Supreme Court and the state courts to hold execution of the mentally retarded unconstitutional or, at the very least, to exempt the mentally retarded from this form of punishment (Streiker & Streiker, 1998). Various humanitarian organizations have also joined in the effort to urge the Supreme Court to eliminate capital punishment of the mentally retarded and have lobbied state legislatures with the hope of obtaining passage of laws that will eliminate this practice in those states that currently permit it (Streiker & Streiker, 1998). Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union are also involved in this effort, while members of the educational and psychiatric professions are seeking to find some means of

Category: Government - M