That's the title of today's must-read article in the New York Times addressing the question of competency to be executed. It focuses on the case of Texas death row inmate Scott Panetti. LINK
But Mr. Panetti, 48, who represented himself in court despite a long and colorful history of mental illness, says he believes that the state's real reason is a different one. He says the state, in league with Satan, wants to kill him to keep him from preaching the Gospel.
That delusion has been documented by doctors and acknowledged by judges and prosecutors. It poses what experts call the next big question in death penalty law now that the Supreme Court has barred the execution of juvenile offenders and the mentally retarded: what makes someone too mentally ill to be executed?
A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans, recently said Mr. Panetti was sane enough to die. The full court will soon decide whether to hear the case.
Panetti had a 10 year history of severe mental illness and forced hospitalizations before committing the murders for which he was sentenced to death . In spite of his mental illness, he was deemed competent to stand trial and able to represent himself.
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