Mental Retardation and the Death Penalty
Atkins v. Virginia (Summary of Supreme Court decision exempting those with mental retardation from death penalty)
List of Defendants with Mental Retardation Executed in the United States (Since 1976)
Defining Mental Retardation
Summaries of states' criteria for defining mental retardation
Summaries of statute changes by states in response to Atkins v. Virginia
"Mental Retardation and the Death Penalty: A Guide to State Legislative Issues" - Model legislation for states to comply with the Atkins ruling, with commentary by Professor James Ellis, Univ. of New Mexico Law School.
Sentence Reversals in Mental Retardation Cases since Atkins
Additional Resources
News and Developments - Current Year
News and Developments - Previous Years
Atkins v. Virginia: The U.S. Supreme Court Declares the Execution of Persons with Mental Retardation Unconstitutional
On June 20, 2002,the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling ending the execution of those with mental retardation. In Atkins v. Virginia, the Court held that it is a violation of the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel unusual punishment to execute death row inmates with mental retardation. The decision reflects the national consensus which has formed on this issue. (Associated Press, June 20, 2002). Read the opinion. See also, DPIC's Press Release.
Previously, in 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Penry v. Lynaugh (492 U.S. 302). In a 5-4 decision, the Court held that executing persons with mental retardation was not a violation of the Eighth Amendment. Mental retardation should instead be a mitigating factor to be considered by the jury during sentencing. Writing for the majority, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said that a "national consensus" had not developed against executing those with mental retardation.
At the time, only two states, Maryland and Georgia, prohibited such executions. Between the Penry and Atkins decisions, 16 additional states enacted laws prohibiting the execution of the mentally retarded. The federal death penalty statute also forbids such executions. Prior to Atkins v. Virginia, eighteen states plus the federal government did not allow the execution of those with mental retardation: AZ, AR, CO, CT, FL, GA, IN, KS, KY, MD, MO, NE, NM, NY*, NC, SD, TN, WA, and U.S. (*except for murder by a prisoner) Read summaries of the states' criteria for establishing and defining mental retardation.
See also, Professor James Ellis's model legislation and explanation for states to comply with the Atkins ruling: "Mental Retardation and the Death Penalty: A Guide to State Legislative Issues." Mental health experts have pointed out that the mentally retarded's characteristic suggestibility and willingness to please leads them to confess - sometimes falsely - to capital crimes. (See Earl Washington, right) In 1989, the American Bar Association established a policy opposing the execution of those with mental retardation. The ABA held that execution of such individuals is unacceptable in a civilized society, irrespective of their guilt or innocence. In 1997, the continued imposition of the death penalty on the mentally retarded and juveniles contributed to the ABA's call for a nationwide moratorium on the death penalty.
THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION ON INTELLECTUAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES (AAIDD-FORMERLY AAMR) ANNOUNCES THE DEFINITION OF THE TERM INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY, AND RENAMES “MENTAL RETARDATION” IN ITS UPCOMING CLASSIFICATION AND TERMINOLOGY MANUAL
"Timing Of IQ Test Can Be A Life Or Death Matter." Science Daily Magazine, October 6, 2003 - Full text of a news release from Science Daily Magazine about the implications on death row inmates who are given IQ tests in years in which alterations to results are made to re-establish the mean score at 100.
"An Empirical Look at Atkins v. Virginia and Its Application in Capital Cases John H. Blume, Sheri Lynn Johnson and Christopher Seeds; Tennessee Law Review, Vol. 76:625; Spring 2009 - States: "We found 234 cases adjudicating the substance of Atkins claims, which implies that about seven percent of all death row inmates have filed Atkins claims. . . .Nearly forty percent of all defendants who allege mental retardation have, in fact, proved it."
Human Rights Watch issued a report on March 20, 2001 condemning the use of the death penalty for inmates with mental retardation.
The report, Beyond Reason: The Death Penalty and Offenders with Mental Retardation, provides numerous examples of persons who have been sentenced to death despite their profound intellectual limitations.
"The Penry Penalty: Capital Punishment and Offenders with Mental Retardation" by Emily Fabrycki Reed; Lanham: University Press of America (1993).
"The Criminal Justice System and Mental Retardation: Defendants and Victims" by Ronald W. Conley, Ruth Luckasson, and George N. Bouthilet; Baltimore:Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. (1992).
Intellectual Competence & the Death Penalty (Blog)
See also Mental Illness.
Related Items
Earl Washington, IQ of 69, Confessed to a crime he did not commit (CNBC-TV)
In 1983, police convinced Earl Washington to make a statement concerning the rape and murder of a woman in Culpeper, VA, in 1982. The statements were used against him and in 1984 he was convicted and sentenced to death. Sixteen years later, DNA tests confirmed that Washington was innocent and he received an absolute pardon.
Mario Marquez, IQ of 65, Executed in Texas in 1995
(ABC-TV)
Mario Marquez had the adaptive skills of a 7 year-old. His trial counsel testified at a clemency hearing that he did not present any evidence of Mario's mental retardation because of a legal flaw in the Texas death penalty statute. Marquez was executed on January 17, 1995.
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