Washington -- The U.S. Supreme Court June 4 overturned the death sentence of a mentally retarded man. The Court also indicated that it will decide next year whether any mentally retarded person can be sentenced to death.
The June 4 ruling voided a death sentence against Texan Johnny Paul Penry on the grounds that the jury had lacked clear instructions on how to weigh his mental condition, reportedly equivalent to that of a seven-year old child. It was a 6-3 ruling with Justice Sandra Day O'Connor writing for the Court majority.
The Texas legislature recently passed a bill that would ban the execution of mentally retarded persons, but Gov. Rick Perry hasn't decided whether he'll sign it. In her ruling, O'Connor said the Texas trial court ignored the jury instruction guidelines already set by the Supreme Court when it previously overturned Penry's death sentence. After that ruling, Penry was sentenced a second time.
Fourteen states already have enacted legislation to ban execution of the mentally retarded: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, New Mexico, Nebraska, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Washington State.
Complete Text of Supreme Court Decision
Court to Review Capital Punishment for Retarded Convicts
U.S Supreme Court Briefs, Tuesday, March 27, 2001(Capital Punishment, Affirmative Action)
The U.S. Supreme Court announced March 26 that it will decide whether
the Constitution permits the execution of convicted criminals who are
mentally retarded. If it decides that execution of the mentally
retarded is unconstitutional on the grounds of the Eighth Amendment's
prohibition of "cruel and unusual punishment," it would be a
significant reversal for the nation's highest court.
In 1989, the Supreme Court decided 5-4 that execution of the mentally
retarded was not unconstitutional. But since then, controversy over
the practice has grown in the light of a number of high profile cases.
The March 26 decision to review was prompted by the case of Ernest
McCarver -- a convicted murderer on North Carolina's death row whose
attorneys say has an IQ of just 67. Normal intelligence is said to
start at 70.
On March 27, in another case involving Johnny Paul Penry, who is on
Texas' death row, the high court heard appeals from his attorney, who
says his IQ is between 50 and 63. In this case the attorney urged the
court to make it easier for jurors to consider defendants' mental
retardation in deciding whether to sentence them to life in prison or
death.
In 1989, only two states banned the execution of the mentally
retarded. Now, however, 12 of the 37 states that allow the death
penalty have ended the practice of allowing execution of the mentally
retarded. Execution of the mentally retarded already is banned in
federal cases.
Many civil rights and civil liberties advocates support a ban on
execution of the mentally retarded. But it is opposed by many
prosecutors and victims' rights proponents who argue that many
criminals are mentally retarded and that a person's IQ should not
influence the punishment for the crime. The Court will hear the case
this fall and is expected to render a decision by the summer of next
year.
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