In the United States there are about 3,700 people on death row. There are some arguments about how many are mentally retarded, but the number is estimated at about one-fourth to one-third (www.aclu.org/DeathPenalty/. 1). Being mentally retarded does not mean being insane or having brain damage. Mental retardation is a lifelong condition of impaired or incomplete mental development. Mentally retarded people have an IQ below 70 while an average person has an IQ of 100. These people are like small children in the body of an adult, and the legal system executes them for crimes that they can't comprehend. This is cruel and unusual punishment and violates the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution. Mentally retarded people should not be given the death penalty because of their diminished capacity to understand. .
Mentally retarded people are limited in their ability to learn from their experiences, to control their impulses, or to think in long-range terms (Fellner 2). Children out grow these attitudes, but those that are retarded cannot. They can't reason or develop skills that they need to live in this world. A retarded person is simply not the same as a regular adult, because they have grievous difficulties with communication, language, logic, learning, foresight, strategic thinking, planning, and understanding consequences (Fellner 1). To be able to plead mental retardation to a judge, the person must have three things; their IQ must be 70 or lower, "they must have a significant limitation in adaptive functioning in areas .
such as communication, self-care, academics, and self direction", and both of these earlier conditions must have been evident before the age of 18 (www.aclu.org/DeathPenalty/. 1). These are what the judge has to consider before sentencing.
Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, an estimated 35 mentally retarded people have been executed (Fellner 1) The death penalty is suppose to be reserved for the most blameworthy offenders based careful consideration of their background, character, motivation, and circumstances of their crimes (Fellner 1).
It stands for the total abolition of the death penalty but allows states parties to retain the death penalty in time of war. ... Some people think the death penalty is fair. ... The death penalty is a global issue. ... No matter how brutal the case may be, if there are no aggravating factors it cannot be a death penalty case. ... Tennessee forbids the execution of the mentally retarded. ...
This paper shall examine and qualify the issues surrounding the imposition of the death penalty onto the mentally retarded and the mentally ill. ... Conversely, the opposition to this position consists of those who suggest that the death penalty cannot be applied to the mentally ill and the mentally retarded, as the death penalty is primarily supposed to be a deterrent from immoral behaviors and this can therefore not be applied to those who are mentally incapacitated This paper shall examine both positions to this argument, with an additional focus on specific cases where the individual wh...
(Shultz, 2002, p.7) Currently there are thirty-eight states that allow the death penalty. ... Some people believe that no matter what someone who is mentally retarded should not be put to death. ... Daryl Atkins's attorney James Ellis stated that, "The death penalty is different. It is reserved for those whose understanding is sufficiently clear that the penalty of death could be appropriate." ... The third argument for those who support the death penalty is that most people mentally retarded or not know that murder is wrong. ...
(Shultz, 2002, p.7) Currently there are thirty-eight states that allow the death penalty. ... Some people believe that no matter what someone who is mentally retarded should not be put to death. ... Daryl Atkins's attorney James Ellis stated that, "The death penalty is different. It is reserved for those whose understanding is sufficiently clear that the penalty of death could be appropriate." ... The third argument for those who support the death penalty is that most people mentally retarded or not know that murder is wrong. ...
Now does the death penalty truly deter crimes and murder? ... Some people oppose the death penalty because of the many people on death row today. ... Rather, in rural states there is no need for the death penalty because everyone is scattered around and the population is not as big. ... I think it is wrong to be racist, but if they get caught, no matter their race they should be sentenced to death. ... The people that say no to the death penalty would most probably not have the same response if one of their own family members were brutally murdered. ...
History of the Death Penalty Use of the death penalty has declined throughout the industrial Western World since the 19th century. ... That case declared the death penalty cruel and unusual punishment. ... Finally, the mentally retarded are very seldom executed. ... In Texas, death penalty cases cost an average of $2.3 million. ... If we did there would be no crime. ...
Since the society has the highest interest in preventing murder, it should use the strongest and most severe punishment available to deter murder, and that is no other than the death penalty, which has existed for thousands of years. ... When comparisons are made between states with the death penalty and states without, the majority of death penalty states show murder rates consistently higher than non-death penalty states ( from 48% to 101%). The average murder rate among 100,000 population in 1999 of death penalty states was 5.5 while the rate of non-death penalty states was only 3.6. ... Th...
Virginia, declaring in a six to three decision, that it is unconstitutional for any state to utilize the death penalty on mentally retarded offenders, sparing Daryl Renard Atkins life. ... Neither of these two outcomes abolishes the death penalty, instead the new rulings set guidelines to the controversial issue of the death penalty. ... Atkins by declaring it is against the United States Constitution's 8th Amendment's "cruel and unusual punishment" clause to sentence a mentally retarded person to death. ... Although this attitude in text appears legitimate, the ways in which capit...
The Death Penalty In the highly debated issue of whether the death penalty is just, I choose to voice my opinion. The death penalty to me is almost an easy way out. ... Jeannie, I my eyes, did not deserve the death penalty. ... Not all victims of the death penalty have to be retarded. Some are given the death penalty because pf their race. ...
