Entries tagged with “Mental Incompetence”

Policy Issues

Mental Illness

,

Race

,

Recent Legislative Activity

,

Sep 06, 2022

California Passes Legislation to Make Racial Justice Act Retroactive, Remove Permanently Mentally Incompetent Prisoners from Death Row

The California leg­is­la­ture has tak­en a major stride towards reform­ing the state’s death-penal­ty prac­tices, pass­ing two bills that would remove from death row indi­vid­u­als whose cap­i­tal con­vic­tions were the prod­uct of racial dis­crim­i­na­tion and those whose dete­ri­o­rat­ed men­tal con­di­tion has left them permanently mentally…

Policy Issues

Mental Illness

,

Representation

,

Federal Death Penalty

,

Aug 26, 2021

Federal Appeals Court Upholds Convictions and Death Sentences for Dylann Roof

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has affirmed Dylann Roof​’s fed­er­al-court con­vic­tions and death sen­tences for the racial­ly moti­vat­ed mur­ders of nine parish­ioners in an his­toric Charleston, South Carolina African-American church in…

Policy Issues

Mental Illness

,

Representation

,

Federal Death Penalty

,

May 27, 2021

Citing Mental Incompetency From Racist Delusions, Appeal Lawyers Argue Trial Court Should Not Have Permitted Dylann Roof to Represent Himself

Lawyers for fed­er­al death row pris­on­er Dylann Roof argued to a fed­er­al appeals court that the avowed white supremacist’s con­vic­tions and death sen­tences in his tri­al for the 2015 mur­ders of nine Black church­go­ers at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina should be over­turned because the judge pre­sid­ing over his case uncon­sti­tu­tion­al­ly per­mit­ted Roof to rep­re­sent him­self while mentally…

Policy Issues

Intellectual Disability

,

Mental Illness

,

Representation

,

Aug 24, 2020

Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of August 17, 2020

NEWS (8/​19/​20) — California: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit released habeas cor­pus appeal deci­sions in two cap­i­tal cas­es involv­ing California death-row pris­on­er Martin Kipp, over­turn­ing his con­vic­tion in a case pros­e­cut­ed in Orange County and uphold­ing his con­vic­tion and death sen­tence in a Los Angeles County…

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

,

Intellectual Disability

,

Mental Illness

,

Race

,

Upcoming Executions

,

Jul 01, 2020

Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of June 29, 2020

NEWS (7/​2/​20) — Florida: The Florida Supreme Court denied relief to death-row pris­on­er Leroy Pooler, apply­ing two recent deci­sions that retroac­tive­ly rescind­ed case prece­dent that could have over­turned his death sentence.

Policy Issues

Innocence

,

Mental Illness

,

Official Misconduct

,

Upcoming Executions

,

May 01, 2020

Missouri Supreme Court Denies Stay of May 19 Execution for Brain-Damaged Man Tried Five Times for the Same Murder

In a case long marred by pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct, the Missouri Supreme Court has denied a stay of exe­cu­tion for Walter Barton (pic­tured), reject­ing his claims of inno­cence and incom­pe­tence to be exe­cut­ed. The court’s rul­ing on April 27, 2020 made no men­tion of Barton’s addi­tion­al request to put off his exe­cu­tion because of pub­lic health dan­gers relat­ing to the coronavirus…