Entries tagged with “Warren Hill”
Issues
Jun 11, 2021
Georgia Supreme Court Upholds ‘Uniquely High and Onerous’ Burden of Proving Intellectual Disability in Death Penalty Cases
The Georgia Supreme Court has denied a constitutional challenge to the state’s statutory requirement that a capital defendant must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he or she is intellectually disabled before being declared ineligible for the death penalty. In an 8 – 1 ruling issued on June 1, 2021, the Georgia high court affirmed the conviction and death sentence imposed on Rodney Young. Young had argued that requiring a capital defendant to meet the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard — the…
Issues
May 19, 2017
STUDY: Juries Have Never Found Anyone Intellectually Disabled Under Georgia’s Insurmountable Standard of Proof
No death penalty jury has ever found a defendant charged with intentional murder to be ineligible for the death penalty under Georgia’s intellectual disability law, according to a new empirical study published in Georgia State University Law Review. The study, by Georgia State Law Professor Lauren Sudeall Lucas, examined 30 years of jury verdicts under the state’s Guilty But Mentally Retarded statute, which has the most onerous standard in the nation for proving intellectual disability.
Issues
Jan 19, 2015
Georgia Sets Execution Date for Inmate with Intellectual Disabilities
Georgia has set an execution date of January 27 for Warren Hill, an inmate diagnosed with intellectual disabilities (formerly referred to as “mental retardation”). If Hill was convicted in any other state in the country, he almost certainly would be ineligible for the death penalty. The U.S. Supreme Court banned the execution of people with intellectual disabilities in Atkins v. Virginia (2002), but allowed states to set procedures for determining this disability. Georgia set the strictest…
Issues
Oct 01, 2014
Georgia Judge Would Allow Execution of Intellectually Disabled Man, But Calls for Higher Court Review
A county judge in Georgia denied relief for Warren Hill, a death row inmate whose diagnosed intellectual disabilities have failed to meet the state’s narrow standard for exemption from the death penalty. However, the judge encouraged the state Supreme Court to consider whether a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Hall v. Florida, should require Georgia to modify its standard. Chief Judge Thomas Wilson of Butts County said, “In light of the severity of the penalty in this case, this Court hopes…
Issues
Executions Overview
,Death Row Overview
,Time on Death Row
,Aug 15, 2013
Repeated Execution Dates Called Psychological Torture
According to some experts, the process of repeatedly submitting a person to imminent execution is a form of psychological torture that should be banned. The Center for Constitutional Rights has said that “the intense strain of repeatedly coming within hours or days of execution” is torture. Citing the case of Troy Davis, who was executed in Georgia in 2011 after repeated execution dates and stays, the Center remarked, “Is there any significant difference between mock executions, long…
Research
Executions Overview
,Jul 19, 2013
Georgia Judge Finds State’s Lethal Injection Secrecy Law Interferes With Constitutional Rights
On July 18, a Georgia Superior Court judge ruled that the state’s new law shielding the source of lethal injection drugs interfered with Warren Hill’s right to challenge his method of execution and is therefore probably unconstitutional. According to the law, information pertaining to drugs used in executions is classified as “confidential state secrets” and cannot be disclosed. Judge Gail S. Tusan said the law ” “To be executed without being aware of basic information regarding the protocols…
Issues
Jul 15, 2013
The Writ of Habeas Corpus and the Warren Hill Case
UPDATE: Warren Hill was granted a stay of execution by a Georgia court just hours before his scheduled execution on July 15. A hearing is scheduled for July 18 to consider challenges to a new state law that shields the identity of the lethal injection drug’s manufacturer and the prescribing physician from the public. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 15, 2013). As a petition on behalf of Georgia death row inmate Warren Hill awaits consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court, the role of habeas…
Issues
May 31, 2013
INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY: Georgia Inmate Appeals Intellectual Disability Claim to U.S. Supreme Court
On May 23, lawyers for Georgia death row inmate Warren Hill (pictured) petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to prevent his execution, citing strong evidence that Hill has an intellectual disability. Three mental health experts who testified in 2000 that Hill did not have an intellectual disability have now changed their mind about the inmate’s mental health. According to the petition, “all seven mental health experts who have ever evaluated Hill, both the State’s and Hill’s, now unanimously agree…
Issues
New Voices
,Feb 13, 2013
Georgia Disabilities Expert Calls for Halt to Execution of Inmate with Mental Retardation
On February 19, Georgia is scheduled to execute Warren Hill, a death row inmate who has been diagnosed with mental retardation (intellectual disability). Over a decade ago, in Atkins v. Virginia, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to execute the mentally retarded. However, Hill continues to face execution because Georgia requires proof of retardation beyond a reasonable doubt, the strictest such standard in the country and one almost impossible to meet in mental health…
Issues
Jul 16, 2012
Executions Scheduled for July 18 in Texas and Georgia Present Serious Mental Health Issues
Yokamon Hearn (pictured) is facing execution in Texas on July 18 despite clear evidence of brain damage since his early childhood. Hearn’s trial attorneys failed to conduct an adequate investigation into Hearn’s early history, which would have uncovered mitigating evidence that he was neglected by his parents and had a history of mental health problems. His mother’s alcoholism was so severe that she drank to the point of passing out during her pregnancy with Mr. Hearn. He has been diagnosed…
Issues
Jul 06, 2012
Georgia Inmate Scheduled to Die Despite Initial Finding of Intellectual Disabilities
Warren Hill (pictured) is scheduled to be executed on July 18 in Georgia despite being previously found intellectually disabled. The U.S. Supreme Court in Atkins v. Virgnia (2002) banned the execution of individuals with intellectual disabilities (mental retardation), but allowed each state to set guidelines for determining whether an inmate has such a condition. In Georgia, capital defendants are required to prove “mental retardation” beyond a reasonable doubt. It is the only state in the…