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Entries tagged with “Vernon Madison”

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Mental Illness

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Race

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Executions Overview

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May 11, 2016

Alabama Prepares to Execute 65-Year-Old Mentally Ill Prisoner Disabled by Several Strokes

UPDATE: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit stayed Madison’s exe­cu­tion, order­ing oral argu­ment on his com­pe­ten­cy claim. Previously: Alabama is prepar­ing to exe­cute Vernon Madison (pic­tured) on May 12, as his lawyers con­tin­ue to press their claim that the 65-year-old pris­on­er is incom­pe­tent to be…

Policy Issues

Mental Illness

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Executions Overview

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Jan 23, 2018

Condemned Alabama Prisoner Seeks Stay Based on Mental Incompetency and Arrest of Court-Appointed Expert

Lawyers for 67-year-old Vernon Madison (pic­tured), a death-row pris­on­er whose diag­no­sis of ​“irre­versible and pro­gres­sive” vas­cu­lar demen­tia has left him with no mem­o­ry of the crime for which he was sen­tenced to death, have filed a motion to stay his January 25 exe­cu­tion in Alabama. In a peti­tion for writ of cer­tio­rari and motion for stay of exe­cu­tion filed January 18 in the U.S. Supreme Court, Madison’s lawyers argue that the courts wrong­ly found Madison…

Policy Issues

Mental Illness

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United States Supreme Court

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Executions Overview

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Nov 08, 2017

Court Rulings Raise Questions of What Constitutes Incompetency and How is it Determined

Two recent high court rul­ings have raised ques­tions of whether death-row pris­on­ers are suf­fi­cient­ly men­tal­ly impaired to be deemed incom­pe­tent to be exe­cut­ed and who gets to make that deter­mi­na­tion. On November 7, the Arkansas Supreme Court issued an order stay­ing the exe­cu­tion of death-row pris­on­er Jack Greene (pic­tured, left) to resolve whether that state’s mech­a­nism to deter­mine com­pe­ten­cy — giv­ing the direc­tor of the Arkansas Department of…

Policy Issues

Mental Illness

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Mar 16, 2017

Federal Appeals Court Finds Alabama Prisoner Incompetent To Be Executed

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled on March 15 that Alabama death-row pris­on­er Vernon Madison (pic­tured) — who was spared exe­cu­tion last May when the U.S. Supreme Court dead­locked at 4 – 4 on whether to lift a stay — is not men­tal­ly com­pe­tent to be…

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Mental Illness

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United States Supreme Court

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Oct 03, 2018

Justices Appear to Favor Prisoner with Dementia in Case Seeking to Block Alabama Execution

The U.S. Supreme Court heard argu­ment in Madison v. Alabama on October 2, 2018 on whether an Alabama death-row pris­on­er who has vas­cu­lar demen­tia, brain dam­age, cog­ni­tive deficits, and mem­o­ry loss from two near-fatal strokes is com­pe­tent to be exe­cut­ed. During oral argu­ment, Bryan Stevenson (pic­tured), the exec­u­tive direc­tor of the Equal Justice Initiative, told the jus­tices that, as a result of severe and…

Policy Issues

Mental Illness

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United States Supreme Court

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Executions Overview

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Mar 01, 2019

Supreme Court Decides that Executing a Person With Dementia Could Be Unconstitutional

The United States Supreme Court has reversed a deci­sion of the Alabama state courts that would have per­mit­ted the exe­cu­tion of Vernon Madison (pic­tured), a death-row pris­on­er whose severe demen­tia has left him with no mem­o­ry of the crime for which he was sen­tenced to death and com­pro­mised his under­stand­ing of why he was to be…

Policy Issues

Mental Illness

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United States Supreme Court

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Executions Overview

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Feb 26, 2018

U.S. Supreme Court to Decide if Alabama Can Execute Prisoner With Vascular Dementia and No Memory of the Crime

Less than a week after Alabama halt­ed the failed exe­cu­tion of a ter­mi­nal­ly ill pris­on­er whose veins were not suit­able for intra­ve­neous injec­tion, the U.S. Supreme Court has decid­ed to hear the case of anoth­er Alabama pris­on­er whose med­ical con­di­tion, his lawyers say, make him con­sti­tu­tion­al­ly unfit for…