Constitution Project Applauds Panetti Decision
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 28, 2007
11:45 AM
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CONTACT: Constitution Project
Corey Owens
The Constitution Project
Communications Coordinator
(202) 580-6922
cowens@constitutionproject.org
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Constitution Project Applauds Panetti Decision
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WASHINGTON - JUNE 28 - The Constitution Project applauded today's Supreme Court decision in Panetti v Quarterman. The Court found in a 5-4 ruling that the lower courts used too narrow a standard to determine whether Scott Panetti, who suffers from schizophrenia and delusions, is able to understand the reasons for his death sentence. Panetti had represented himself at trial wearing a purple cowboy suit and had attemped to subpoena testimony from President John F. Kennedy, Pope John Paul II, and Jesus Christ.
Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy stated that "[g]ross delusions stemming from a severe mental disorder may put an awareness of a link between a crime and its punishment in a context so far removed from reality that the punishment can serve no proper purpose."
The Constitution Project's bipartisan Death Penalty Committee, which includes supporters as well as opponents of capital punishment, unanimously concluded in its report, "Mandatory Justice: The Death Penalty Revisited," that those "persons with severe mental disorders whose capacity to appreciate the nature, consequences or wrongfulness of their conduct, to exercise rational judgment in relation to the conduct, or to conform their conduct to the requirements of law was significantly impaired at the time of the offense should be excluded from death eligibility."
"Today's decision is an affirmation that the United States will not continue to be counted among those nations that execute people like Scott Panetti, who believes he was sentenced to death for his religious beliefs rather than for murdering his wife's parents," said Virginia Sloan, president of the Constitution Project. "This ruling establishes a common sense standard that should be applauded by liberals and conservatives alike. Supporters and opponents of capital punishment agree that those prisoners who are incapable of understanding their crime or their punishment should be spared the ultimate sanction of capital punishment.
"For more information on the Constitution Project, please visit http://www.constitutionproject.org.
To view the report of the Constitution Project's Death bipartisan Penalty Committee, go here.
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