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Pennsylvania still trying to decide how to implement Atkins

By Douglas A. Berman

This local article details that, nearly a decade after the SCOTUS Atkins decision making mentally retarded defendants ineligible for execution, Pennsylvania is still trying to decide how to implement the ruling.  The piece is headlined "Should a jury or judge determine whether a murderer is mentally retarded?," and here are excerpts: Eight years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a murderer who is mentally retarded cannot face the death penalty because it's cruel and unusual punishment. But the ruling allowed states to decide how to handle such cases, and in Pennsylvania, officials are still debating whether a judge or a jury should determine whether a defendant is mentally retarded. State senators voted 45-2 last year in favor of a bill that would allow a judge to determine whether a defendant is mentally retarded before a trial begins...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on August 29, 2010 (boomark / email).