Georgia Will Execute An Intellectually Disabled Man Next Week Unless The Supreme Court Intervenes

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Think Progress

Georgia Will Execute An Intellectually Disabled Man Next Week Unless The Supreme Court Intervenes
By Nicole Flatow on Feb 11, 2013 at 12:20 pm

While a series of procedural rulings have delayed execution for Warren Lee Hill, he faces imminent capital punishment by the state of Georgia a week from tomorrow, in spite of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that says executing the severely mentally disabled is unconstitutional. Hill, who was deemed “mentally retarded” at trial (an unfortunate legal term), has exhausted his appeals, and only U.S. Supreme Court action can stop his execution this time.

Among those who have advocated for Hill’s clemency are several jurors from Hill’s trial, disability groups, and President Jimmy Carter. Even the victim’s family has submitted an affidavit stating that they prefer clemency.

In its ruling in Atkins v. Virginia, the high court held that executing individuals deemed “mentally retarded” violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment because their disability “places them at special risk of wrongful execution.” Wrongful convictions are already rampant in the U.S. criminal justice system, and the unique irreversibility of capital punishment is one of the reasons why the remedy is becoming increasingly unpopular and uncommon.

In spite of the Supreme Court’s holding, a harsh procedural technicality has allowed the state to skirt existing Supreme Court precedent. While all other states require a finding that the defendant is meets the mental disability criteria by a “preponderance of the evidence”or some other moderate standard of evidence, Georgia imposes the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard — the equivalent of legal certainty. Psychologists have attested that this is a standard that is almost impossible to attain when it comes to mental disability.



Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/02/11/1564611/georgia-will-execute-an-intellectually-disabled-man-next-week-unless-the-supreme-court-intervenes/

[Botany]

1. although I am against the D.P.* this is a case were if we have it it should be used.

Last edited Mon Feb 11, 2013, 05:06 PM - Edit history (1)

http://law.ga.gov/press-releases/2013-02-05/execution-date-set-warren-lee-hill-convicted-murder-fellow-prison-inmate

This was his second murder ..... #1 was when he shot his girlfriend 11 times and #2 was he beat a man
to death as he was sleeping with a wooden board w/ nails in it. He graduated High School and
joined the navy during in which he was promoted.


* cost too much, takes too long, and in many cases the accused gets weak legal help.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

2. Multiple victims makes the death penalty acceptable? n/t

[msanthrope]

4. No, but it makes it more difficult to argue for clemency. In particular, when you have a prison

murder while in prison for murder, it is difficult to argue to a jury that this person can be controlled by anything other than the death penalty, specifically, death row.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

5. I agree with what you are saying,

but that's not what Botany said.

Personally, I don't believe the government should have the right to execute any citizen, either here using lethal injections etc. or abroad using drones.

[GeorgeGist]

6. Then obviously ...

He couldn't be mentally ill. Case closed.

[msanthrope]

3. This is a shit case to challenge Georgia's standard. I agree that BRD is too high a standard

in judging mental handicaps, but I'm not sure that this particular case would meet a preponderance or other standard.

The second murder was especially brutal, and I am not surprised that GA sought the death penalty. While I don't agree with the death penalty, I don't think this person has much of a shot at clemency.

[hack89]

7. He completed high school and enlisted in the Navy

so he can't so reduced in his mental capacity that he couldn't tell right from wrong. It looks like he is simply a violent man.

[Blue_Tires]

8. Well, Georgia did knowingly execute an innocent man a year ago

so I guess it's par for the course....

[SkyDaddy7]

11. Georgia, is my home state...

I am very embarrassed to say & it seems Georgia wants the title of most executions back from Texas...The two states have long competed in just how many people they can kill regardless of who they are.

I use to support the DP but long ago but I matured after realizing it does no good at all. Plus, I know if I was a violent criminal I would much rather die than spend the rest of my life living in prison...So, I support life sentences without the possibility of parole.

[Blue_Tires]

14. Yeah, I went to college in GA and still have a lot of family there

and my home state of VA actually used to boast about being second behind Texas in executions...

[valerief]

9. SCOTUS only protects legal persons, not real ones. nt

[adieu]

10. Intellectually disabled?

I think the term is mentally disabled. Rush Limbaugh is intellectually disabled. A person with severe case of autism, for example, is mentally disabled.

[madrchsod]

12. he`s not mentally disabled

he should be put in a single cell for the rest of his life

[lynne]

13. Total rubbish. High school grad and rank of seaman second class in Navy -

- and suddenly he's "intellectually disabled"? Doesn't appear as though the article is accurate as according to Georgia Dept. of Law "While incarcerated for the murder of his girlfriend, Petitioner was evaluated for prison and it was determined that he was of average intelligence or better, and that, “inmate Hill's intelligence level (could) support skilled and semi-skilled training and an average degree of work status and responsibility.”

Not debating the pro's and con's of the death penalty but he isn't intellectually disabled. That's simply a poorly chosen ploy to keep him from being executed. There's too much evidence to the contrary that proves otherwise.

[Judi Lynn]

15. Guardian:Georgia will violate both justice and the constitution if it executes Warren Hill

Georgia will violate both justice and the constitution if it executes Warren Hill

State law prohibits applying the death penalty to the 'mentally retarded', yet Georgia plows ahead, ignoring Hill's disability

Christof Heyns
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 13 February 2013 11.22 EST

The US supreme court says it is a violation of the constitution to execute an offender with intellectual disabilities, but the state of Georgia is poised to do just that.

Just over a year ago, the world learned that Georgia was about to execute Troy Davis, someone about whose guilt there were serious questions. Many expressed their misgivings, but he was, nevertheless, executed. It has now become clear that Georgia has finally cleared the last legal hurdles and is intent on executing Warren Hill, whose IQ is within the range of what is considered to constitute intellectual disability, or "mental retardation" (in US parlance). A state court has twice found that Hill meets the criteria for mental retardation by a preponderance of the evidence.

Hill has been on death row since 1991. His execution was stayed twice in the middle of 2012, to resolve questions relating to the lethal injection process. On 23 July, he was asked to choose his last meal (he took the usual prison food). He had already had his pre-execution physical and was waiting in the holding cell by the lethal injection room when he was told he would be executed another day. His execution was halted at the last minute to resolve a technical question about the method that was going to be used to kill him.

This has now been resolved, and state attorney general has confirmed his execution date. On 18 February, he will again be given the opportunity to choose a last meal. On 19 February, he is scheduled to be executed.

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/13/georgia-constitution-execute-warren-hill