Five years ago the United States Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to execute the retarded. Today in American courtrooms, juries are left to struggle with determining just how retarded is retarded enough to allow a defendant to escape capital punishment.
Juries, it seems, haven't shown themselves very sympathetic on this question.
It is up to each state to decide how the retardation issue will be considered. Some states have quietly moved condemned prisoners with IQ scores in the 60's and 70's off death row. States where the death penalty is more popular - such as Virginia and Texas - require the issue to be decided by the juries.
It had been estimated that as many as 300 of America's 3,000 death row inmates would qualify as retarded but only a handful of those were actually held exempt from the death penalty.
No comments:
Post a Comment