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Exploring execution competency and capacity to assist counsel

By Douglas A. Berman

I just noticed this piece on SSRN titled "The Afterlife of Ford and Panetti: Execution Competence and the Capacity to Assist Counsel." Here is the abstract: The capacity to assist counsel and communicate a defense once held a central place in assessing competence for execution.  Since Ford v. Wainwright (1986), however, courts have discarded this measure, viewing Justice Powell?s concurring opinion, which required only that a prisoner understand the execution as mortal punishment for a capital crime, as the Eighth Amendment rule.  In a significant development, the Supreme Court?s decision in Panetti v. Quarterman (2007) ? its first interpreting Ford ? sends notice that Justice Powell?s statements on the substantive standard are not Ford's rule, providing a long overdue opportunity to address whether executing prisoners with severe mental illness who lack the capacity to assist counsel contravenes evolving standards of decency...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on May 27, 2009 (boomark / email).