That's the title of an editorial in today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Putting aside for a moment the argument over whether Texas ought to be executing people who have mental illness — and the state should not be doing that — how can Texas officials be so disorganized that they fail to notify a condemned man's lawyers?
"This raises troubling moral questions about why the State of Texas is rushing to execute this mentally ill man," Kase said.
Yes, it does. Panetti's crime was heinous, and for that he must be accountable. But there are serious questions around this case that haven't been adequately answered. Texas authorities need to answer them before it's too late for Panetti.
Earlier coverage of Scott Panetti's case begins at the link.
All prior coverage is in the Scott Panetti category index. The Supreme Court established standards to assess whether severely mentally ill inmates are competent to be executed in a 1986 case, Ford v. Wainwright; more via Oyez. The Court revisited the ruling in 2007 in Panetti v. Quarterman is via Oyez.
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