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Georgia to seek en banc review of Eleventh Circuit panel ruling about Atkins application

By Douglas A. Berman

As detailed in this post from a few weeks ago, a Eleventh Circuit panel in Hill v. Schofield, No. 08-15444 (11th Cir. Jun. 18, 2010) (available here), declared unconstitutional Georgia's procedures for implementing the Atkins ruling prohibiting the execution of mentally retarded persons.  As detailed in this lengthy and effective Fulton County Daily Report article on the ruling, the state of Georgia is going to seek to get the ruling reconsidered.  Here are snippets from the article: Although Georgia was the first state in the nation to outlaw the execution of mentally retarded defendants in 1988, it remains the only state to require an offender to provide proof of mental retardation beyond a reasonable doubt -- the most stringent legal standard, according to the opinion...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on July 01, 2010 (boomark / email).