Does the death penalty apply to the mentally retarded?
In June 2002, the Supreme Court reversed a ruling it had made 13 years earlier and held in a 6-3 decision that such punishment does constitute “cruel and unusual punishment” to this group. The court relied in part on the degree to which public opinion now characterized the punishment as excessive. A number of states had already passed legislation prohibiting such executions. As many as 10% of death row inmates suffer from mental retardation. Are there racial differences in the application of the death penalty As to perpetrators, any discrimination would be equivalent to the overall discrimination in the criminal justice system. Blacks no longer outnumber whites on death row and the rate of their death penalty sentences is roughly equivalent to their high percentage of the prison population. But as to victims, there is a discriminatory pattern. Studies have indicated that homicides involving white victims are far more likely to be prosecuted as death penalty cases. Are minors subject to
