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Now What? The Next Legislative Step May Be The Most Difficult

© Glenn Arnold

In the past three years, capital punishment statutes have been lessened by two major Supreme Court rulings: 2002's Atkins v. Virginia decision and last month's Roper v. Simmons decision. These two cases effectively abolished the death penalty for the mentally retarded and for juveniles, respectively. Needless to say, the anti-death penalty movement has been buoyed by these two major victories, but clearing these hurdles also brings up an important question: What's next in the fight against capital punishment?

From all indications, the next legislative push may be played out on the most ambitious of all battlefields: the legality of executing the mentally ill.

Following the recent decisions regarding the mentally retarded and juveniles, the next logical step would be to tackle the issue of the mentally ill. Anti-death penalty advocates believe the rulings in Atkins and Roper may be precursors to similar decisions for the mentally ill; both previous Supreme Court decisions dealt with the mental capacity and mental state of defendants and how those issues related to a defendant's competency to stand trial and accept punishment. The question before the courts in the future may be this: are the mentally ill similar to the mentally retarded and juveniles in that brain development is unformed or-in the case of the mentally ill-malformed?

Although the Supreme Court did ban capital punishment for the insane in 1986's Ford v. Wainwright, that ruling provided a narrow definition of insanity: not understanding a consequence or punishment and/or not grasping the reality of a punishment. In other words, the death penalty has been abolished for those who cannot tell right from wrong at the time of their crime. However, according to the American Psychiatric Association and other professional mental health organizations, mental illness has a much broader definition which includes those who cannot help their actions. This distinction is very important in that it leaves the majority of the mentally ill eligible for the ultimate punishment. Currently, Connecticut is the only state than specifically bans executing the mentally ill.

In the battle against capital punishment for the mentally ill, the anti-death penalty movement faces difficulties within the medical field. While some mental health professionals classify mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder as severe mental illness, other do not. Some medical professionals believe that such disorders are more commonplace and have a limited-or less severe-effect on an individual's impulses and actions. Clearly, defining mental illness and the degree of impairment will be difficult in the legal realm as it pertains to the death penalty. The question of where and how the line should be drawn is complex and certainly debatable.

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