Death Penalty for the Mentally Challenged

Paper Summary:

This paper opposed the 2001 U.S. Supreme Court decision to prohibit capital developmental delay capital punishment for the mentally retarded. It objects to the Court leaving the States power to define who is mentally retarded, instead of looking at who is capable of standing trial.

From the Paper:

"It was on Friday 2001 when the Supreme Court took the final decision of prohibiting or banning the capital punishment of the mentally retarded. There were around fifteen states out of the 38 states that excused the mentally retarded from its reach, as done by the federal government. While, on the other hand, the remaining thirty-eight states had permit death penalty (Wilson, 2002). However, lately a group of retired American diplomats insisted the Supreme Court to ban such executions in general, and argued that the lack of such a ban "will strain diplomatic relations with close American allies (Fournier, 2002)."

More papers on Death Penalty for the Mentally Challenged:

• Research Paper # 9831 : "Execution of the Mentally Challenged"
• Research Paper # 48270 : "Execution of Mentally Challenged Persons"
• Argumentative Essay # 22684 : "Capital Punishment"

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