"Appeals court vacates ruling on mental retardation," is the title of Bill Rankin's report in today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The federal appeals court on Tuesday vacated its ruling that found unconstitutional the burden Georgia puts on capital defendants to prove they are mentally retarded -- and thus ineligible for execution.
Georgia is the only state in the country that requires a defendant raising a mental retardation claim to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt, the highest burden-of-proof threshold. In June, in a 2-1 decision, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta said this standard increases the risk a death-penalty defendant will erroneously be found not to be mentally retarded. This violates the Eighth Amendment's guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment, the ruling said.
Now the entire 11th Circuit will decide the issue.
The AP post is, "Appeals court to review Ga. death penalty rule," via WTVM-TV.
A federal appeals court will rule on whether Georgia sets too strict a standard for deciding whether death penalty defendants are mentally retarded, meaning they cannot be executed.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decided Tuesday to review a ruling by a three-judge panel that earlier found that Georgia's requirements are unconstitutional.
Georgia is the only state in the country that requires defendants to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they are retarded. Beyond a reasonable doubt is the highest burden of proof in the legal system.
In June, the panel ruled 2-1 that Georgia's rule increases the risk that a mentally retarded person could be executed. The court said this violated a ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Earlier coverage of the Georgia standard begins with, "More on Georgia Mental Retardation Ruling." The June ruling in Warren Lee Hill, Jr. v. Derrick Schofield is in Adobe .pdf format.
More on Atkins v. Virginia, the Supreme Court's 2002 ruling banning the execution of those with mental retardation, is via Oyez.; related posts, in the mental retardation index.
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