Entries tagged with “John Wood”

May 07, 2026

South Carolina Judge Rules Death-Sentenced Prisoner John Wood Not Competent for Execution

A South Carolina cir­cuit court judge has found that death-sen­­tenced pris­on­er John Wood can­not be exe­cut­ed because of his severe schiz­o­phre­nia. The con­sti­tu­tion­al thresh­olds estab­lished by the U.S. Supreme Court in *Ford v. Wainwright* (1986) and clar­i­fied in *Panetti v. Quarterman* (2007) and *Madison v. Alabama* (2018) deter­mine that a pris­on­er may not be exe­cut­ed if they are unable to ratio­nal­ly under­stand the rea­son they are being put to death. Judge Grace Knie…