A group of con­ser­v­a­tive lead­ers has joined in an effort to save the life of Scott Panetti, a Texas death row inmate with a his­to­ry of severe men­tal ill­ness. Members include sev­er­al law enforce­ment offi­cials and notable con­ser­v­a­tives, such as Mark Earley – for­mer Attorney General of Virginia, Harold Stratten – for­mer Attorney General of New Mexico, David Keene – the Washington Times opin­ion edi­tor, James Miller III – direc­tor of the Office of Management and Budget under President Ronald Reagan; and Richard Viguerie – chair­man of ConservativeHQ​.com. The group filed an ami­cus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, stat­ing, ​“Even for those who favor a mea­sured and just sys­tem of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment, the exe­cu­tion of Panetti would be a moral scan­dal that would only under­mine con­fi­dence in such a sys­tem.” Panetti’s attor­neys say that he is men­tal­ly incom­pe­tent and there­fore inel­i­gi­ble for exe­cu­tion. Panetti, who rep­re­sent­ed him­self at tri­al wear­ing a cow­boy suit and attempt­ed to sub­poe­na John F. Kennedy and the pope, has not had his men­tal com­pe­ten­cy eval­u­at­ed in sev­en years, and his attor­neys say his con­di­tion has wors­ened. The con­ser­v­a­tives’ brief con­clud­ed, ​“Panetti should be giv­en the time and resources he seeks, and the case should be remand­ed so that he can pre­pare a peti­tion for writ of habeas cor­pus rais­ing a claim that he is incom­pe­tent to be executed.”

(A. Turner, ​“Conservative group urges court to pro­vide legal help for con­demned man,” Houston Chronicle, February 4, 2015; see Brief of Conservative Leaders). See New Voices and Mental Illness.

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