19 mai 2004 06:10
Mentally ill inmate executed in Texas
Isabelle Hontebeyrie
Kelsey Patterson, a 50-year-old paranoid schizophrenic, received a lethal injection Tuesday evening.
The Associated Press reported:
His last words were a plea: "Give me my life back."
Gov. Rick Perry rejected the parole board's recommendation moments after the Supreme Court also refused to stay the execution, punishment for a double slaying in East Texas almost 12 years ago.
Patterson's execution renewed the legal quandary of whether it is proper to execute an inmate who is mentally ill after the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to execute the mentally retarded. The high court has also said an inmate may not be executed if he doesn't know why he's on death row and the punishment he faces.
At least three mentally ill prisoners have been executed in Texas since the mental retardation ruling two years ago.
Is this morally acceptable? Is this legally justifiable? I really don't think so.
Other bloggers against this execution:
Hippy Dave's Random Ravings - Texas
The All Spin Zone - He Was A Fetus Once
The Chestnut Tree Cafe - Killers
Annie's Annals... Evolve, support mutation - Texas Puts Mentally Ill Killer to Death
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Please explain exactly WHY it is "pathetic" to execute a mentally ill murderous scumbag. If there is no possibility of recovery from the illness, are we doing any sort of favor by keeping him alive? Clearly our mental health programs cannot deal with him -- he was in the mental health system several times before, but was released to brutally murder. The only way to keep the rest of the world safe from him (others in prison don't deserve to have him murder them, either) is solitary confinement for the rest of his life, or the death penalty. Is that really better? Do we owe a greater debt to him that to the rest of humanity?
Posted by/Écrit par:
This is pathetic. Some third world countries prohibit execution of the mentally ill! The state of Texas executes more people per capita every year than China. Will this madness ever end?
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Posted by/Écrit par: Laura