[WCADP-list] ABA Passes Resolution Condemning the Execution of the Mentally Ill

[wcadp-list at lists.drizzle.com]

We are very pleased to bring you some exciting news.  Today, the American
Bar Association's House of Delegates - following in the footsteps of the
American Psychological Assn and the American Psychiatric Association -
unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the execution of mentally ill
persons!

The Resolution

RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association, without taking a position
supporting or opposing the death penalty, urges each jurisdiction that
imposes capital punishment to implement the following policies and
procedures:

1. Defendants should not be executed or sentenced to death if, at the time
of the offense, they had significant limitations in both their intellectual
functioning and adaptive behavior, as expressed in conceptual, social, and
practical adaptive skills, resulting from mental retardation, dementia, or a
traumatic brain injury.

2. Defendants should not be executed or sentenced to death if, at the time
of the offense, they had a severe mental disorder or disability that
significantly impaired their capacity (a) to appreciate the nature,
consequences or wrongfulness of their conduct, (b) to exercise rational
judgment in relation to conduct, or (c) to conform their conduct to the
requirements of the law. A disorder manifested primarily by repeated
criminal conduct or attributable solely to the acute effects of voluntary
use of alcohol or other drugs does not, standing alone, constitute a mental
disorder or disability for purposes of this provision.

3. Mental Disorder or Disability after Sentencing

(a) Grounds for Precluding Execution. A sentence of death should not be
carried out if the prisoner has a mental disorder or disability that
significantly impairs his or her capacity (i) to make a rational decision to
forgo or terminate post-conviction proceedings available to challenge the
validity of the conviction or sentence; (ii) to understand or communicate
pertinent information, or otherwise assist counsel, in relation to specific
claims bearing on the validity of the conviction or sentence that cannot be
fairly resolved without the prisoner's participation; or (iii) to understand
the nature and purpose of the punishment, or to appreciate the reason for
its imposition in the prisoner's own case. Procedures to be followed in each
of these categories of cases are specified in (b) through (d) below.

(b) Procedure in Cases Involving Prisoners Seeking to Forgo or Terminate
Post-Conviction Proceedings. If a court finds that a prisoner under sentence
of death who wishes to forgo or terminate post-conviction proceedings has a
mental disorder or disability that significantly impairs his or her capacity
to make a rational decision, the court should permit a next friend acting on
the prisoner's behalf to initiate or pursue available remedies to set aside
the conviction or death sentence.

(c) Procedure in Cases Involving Prisoners Unable to Assist Counsel in
Post-Conviction Proceedings. If a court finds at any time that a prisoner
under sentence of death has a mental disorder or disability that
significantly impairs his or her capacity to understand or communicate
pertinent information, or otherwise to assist counsel, in connection with
post-conviction proceedings, and that the prisoner's participation is
necessary for a fair resolution of specific claims bearing on the validity
of the conviction or death sentence, the court should suspend the
proceedings. If the court finds that there is no significant likelihood of
restoring the prisoner's capacity to participate in post-conviction
proceedings in the foreseeable future, it should reduce the prisoner's
sentence to the sentence imposed in capital cases when execution is not an
option.

(d) Procedure in Cases Involving Prisoners Unable to Understand the
Punishment or its Purpose. If, after challenges to the validity of the
conviction and death sentence have been exhausted and execution has been
scheduled, a court finds that a prisoner has a mental disorder or disability
that significantly impairs his or her capacity to understand the nature and
purpose of the punishment, or to appreciate the reason for its imposition in
the prisoner's own case, the sentence of death should be reduced to the
sentence imposed in capital cases when execution is not an option.

A copy of the resolution may be downloaded from the ABA at:  
http://www.abanet.org/leadership/2006/annual/onehundredtwentytwoa.doc 

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The Washington Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
It's easy to support the death penalty when you don't have all the facts
P. O. Box 3045
Seattle, WA 98114
(206) 622-8952
www.abolishdeathpenalty.org
 
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