CathNews New Zealand

Mentally ill people are being executed in the US.

Many have severe schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

This is despite the fact that 10 years ago the US Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to apply the death penalty to juveniles or intellectually disabled people.

The Catholic Mobilizing Network is advocating for an end to capital punishment.

Two years ago, a federal court stopped a man’s execution.

Before his crime, he had been hospitalized 14 times in 11 years for symptoms of mental illness.

He had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and suffered from hallucinations.

Advocates are citing his case in favor of a death penalty ban for the severely mentally ill.

It’s an issue that matters to Catholics, says Karen Clifton, who is the executive director of the Catholic Mobilizing Network.

“As Catholics we are called to uphold the dignity of all life, and supporting a Severe Mental Illness exemption bill is a vital part of our call to live where justice and mercy meet,” she says.

A new report by the American Bar Association on the death penalty has waded in to the argument.

Its views support the Catholic Mobilizing Network’s.

The death penalty for the severely mentally ill “does not further the retributive goals of the punishment, as this population simply does not have the requisite moral culpability,the Bar Association says.

“Their illnesses can impair the ability to interpret reality accurately, comprehend fully the consequences of their actions, and control their actions.”

Source

• Crux
• Catholic Online
• Image: NPR

Additional reading

News category: World.