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Scott Panetti Deemed Competent to Be Executed

By Kristin Houle

AFP reports that Judge Sam Sparks once again has found Scott Panetti competent to be executed ("Schizophrenic death row man in Texas on path to execution," March 27, 2008). The judge ruled that Panetti possessed sufficient rational understanding of the reason for his execution. Panetti believes that the state seeks his execution in order to prevent him from preaching the gospel in prison.Here's the article:"A schizophrenic inmate in Texas is again on the path to execution after a federal judge pronounced him sufficiently rational to understand why he has been sentenced to death.In 1986 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a convict could be executed only if that person realized that he or she was going to die, and understood why.Scott Panetti, 50, was sentenced to die for a double homicide he acknowledged having committed...continue to full post

Full post as published by Prevention Not Punishment on March 28, 2008 (boomark / email).