Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> StandDown Texas Project

Criminal Law

: StandDown Texas Project

Cracked

By Steve Hall

That's the title of Renee Feltz must-read report in the newly redesigned Texas Observer.  It's subtitled, "Despite a U.S. Supreme Court ban, Texas has continued to send mentally retarded criminals to death row. Will a Mexican immigrant's case correct this injustice?"  Here's a brief excerpt from this in-depth report.In 2002, six years after Daniel Plata landed on Death Row, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a case called Atkins v. Virginia that ?executions of mentally retarded criminals are cruel and unusual.? Even though mentally disabled people can understand the difference between right and wrong, the court reasoned that they are less able to control impulsive behavior or learn from mistakes. The court supported its decision by pointing to bans on executing the mentally retarded in 17 states and in federal cases as ?evolving standards of decency...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on January 08, 2010 (boomark / email).