Does the U.S. execute mentally retarded people?
• The Supreme Court ruled in June 2002 (Atkins v. Virginia) that it was unconstitutional to execute the mentally retarded. • According to Amnesty International, over 60 people diagnosed as mentally ill or with mental retardation have been executed in the United States. This is in violation of international standards of justice. • The United Nations Committee on Crime Prevention and Control recommended in 1988 that “persons suffering from mental retardation or extremely limited mental competence” should not be executed. • Mario Marquez had the adaptive skills of a 7 year-old. His trial counsel testified at a clemency hearing that he did not present any evidence of Mario’s mental retardation because of a legal flaw in the Texas death penalty statute. Marquez was executed on january 17, 1995. Information excerpted from Amnesty International and the Death Penalty Information Center.
