Suggested Citation, 131 21st Avenue SouthNashville, TN 37203-1181United States, University of Southern California Center for Law & Social Science (CLASS) Law & Economics Research Paper Series, Subscribe to this free journal for more curated articles on this topic, S&P Global Market Intelligence Research Paper Series, U.S. The first argument is the most global: execution of those who suffer from mental illness violates equal protection of the laws in those states which prohibit execution of children (i.e., all states), or at least in those jurisdictions which prohibit execution of people who are mentally retarded (numbering about a dozen). Copyright 2020 . Give us a try. 2020, https://www.paperdue.com/essay/death-penalty-and-mental-illness-30885, The debate over the death penalty remains and the Supreme Court will most likely be asked decide such cases for years to come. But a death row inmate cannot be executed if, as a result of mental illness, the prisoner is unaware of his or her pending execution and the reasons for it. You won't be disappointed! Keywords:Mental Illness Mental Retardation Death Penalty Insanity Defense Capital Punishment Should convicted criminals who are legally declared as mentally ill be excused from the death penalty? If one agrees that the, Death Penalty Unsatisfactory Approach To Serious Crimes, Capital Punishment Currently 38 States Have Legalized, Death Penalty Has Been A Long Contested Issue, Death Penalty and Mental Illness Term Paper. Bruce J. Winick, The Principled Executioner: Capital Juries' Bias and the Benefits of True Bifurcation, By Mental illness is expressly recognized as a mitigating factor in most death penalty statutes and the Supreme Court has held, in Ford v. Wainwright, that it is cruel and unusual punishment under the eighth amendment to execute a person whose mental state renders understanding of capital punishment impossible. According to Dreyfuss (2003), women convicted of murder specifically face issues such as prosecutors who ignore mitigating circumstances, self-defence, Studies consistently and generally show that, all factors held constant, the race of the accused is a critical variable in determining who will be sentenced to death. Most notably, this country still permits the execution of the severely mentally ill. 2020. Intentional murder comes in two different flavors. The second argument assumes that execution of people who are mentally ill is constitutional as a general proposition but relies on the assertion that capital sentencing juries usually treat mental illness as an aggravating circumstance; on this assumption, the bulk of death sentences imposed on mentally ill people are deprivations of life without due process of law. Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, 5, 257-283. Mental Illness and the Death Penalty by Christopher Slobogin Our society has long been ambivalent about mental illness.
Currently, 38 states have legalized capital punishment statutes. "Death Penalty And Mental Illness" (2008, April 07) Retrieved November 3, 2020, from https://www.paperdue.com/essay/death-penalty-and-mental-illness-30885, "Death Penalty And Mental Illness" 07 April 2008. Slobogin, Christopher, Mental Illness and the Death Penalty (2000). Ford v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 399 (1986). However, as was initially the case with intellectual disability and young age, the Court has not barred the death penalty for those with serious mental illness. Terms & Privacy. Moreover, in Perry v. Louisiana, 498 U.S. 38 (1990), the Court used that decision to bolster Louisiana's attempts to forcibly medicate a prisoner in order to make him death-eligible.