On the eve of the Kelsey Patterson’s sched­uled exe­cu­tion in Texas, the state’s Board of Pardons and Paroles vot­ed 5 – 1 to rec­om­mend that Governor Rick Perry com­mute Patterson’s death sen­tence to life in prison. In its rare rec­om­men­da­tion for clemen­cy, the Board not­ed that if Governor Perry refus­es to grant clemen­cy, Patterson, a men­tal­ly ill man who is sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed on Tuesday, May 18th, should receive a 120-day reprieve. The Board’s actions mark the first time in more than two decades that mem­bers have rec­om­mend­ed a com­mu­ta­tion to the gov­er­nor at such a late state in a con­demned inmate’s case. Patterson has been diag­nosed as a para­noid schiz­o­phrenic who, in the years lead­ing up to his cap­i­tal mur­der con­vic­tion, was ruled men­tal­ly incom­pe­tent to stand tri­al on unre­lat­ed charges. His impend­ing exe­cu­tion renewed the ques­tion of whether it is prop­er to exe­cute some­one who is men­tal­ly ill when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that it is uncon­sti­tu­tion­al to exe­cute some­one who is men­tal­ly retard­ed. (Associated Press, May 18, 2004) UPDATE: Despite the rec­om­men­da­tion of the Pardons and Paroles Board, Governor Perry denied the clemen­cy request, and Patterson was exe­cut­ed on May 18, 2004. See Clemency. See Mental Illness. Read Amnesty International’s Report on Kelsey Patterson.

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