The Death Penalty for Mentally Impaired Offenders
The Supreme Court Interprets “Cruel and Unusual Punishment”
n 1986, the Supreme Court in Ford v. Wainwright held that it was unlawful to execute the mentally insane. However, the Court did not set out or propose any guidelines or standards for the State legislative bodies to adopt or follow for the determination of whether one should be adjudged insane. As a result, problems developed because there was no implementation of a uniform measure to protect the insane from the death penalty. The Penry Precedent On the same day the Court decided Stanford v. Kentucky (1989) it also decided Penry v. Lynaugh (1989), a case in which the Petitioner,…
