The Problem With How Courts Decide Whether Someone Can Be Executed
“The criminal justice system is unequipped to grapple with the complexity of mental illness.“ In this Slate.com reporting by Maria Armstrong-Lopez, I learned that the 2007 Supreme Court case Panetti v. Quarterman set the standard for when the government can execute someone with severe mental illness. I also learned that, fifteen years later, the state of Texas governor Greg […]
Benjamin Cole
With Execution Looming, Judge Denies Competency Hearing for Oklahoma Death-Row Prisoner Death Penalty Info. Center: “Cole’s defense team issued a statement from assistant federal defender Tom Hird in response to the ruling, saying, “Benjamin Cole is incapacitated by his mental illness to the point of being essentially non-functional. His own attorneys have not been able […]