Opinion ID: 1057585
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Execution of the Severely Mentally III

Text: Relying on Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304, 321, 122 S.Ct. 2242, 153 L.Ed.2d 335 (2002), which held that execution of the mentally retarded violates the Eighth Amendment, and Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551, 578, 125 S.Ct. 1183, 161 L.Ed.2d 1 (2005), which held that the Eighth Amendment prevents the execution of juveniles, Mr. Irick argues that the rationale of these decisions supports adoption of a rule barring the execution of death-sentenced inmates who suffer from severe mental illnesses. The rule Mr. Irick seeks would apply to prevent the execution of prisoners who are severely mentally ill but unable to establish incompetency to be executed under the standards announced in Panetti, Ford, and Van Tran. In arguing that such a rule would prevent his execution, Mr. Irick relies upon Dr. Brown's findings that he has the functional capacity of a seven-to-nine-year-old child and that he has diminished capacity to understand and to process information, to communicate, to abstract and to learn from mistakes, to engage in logical reasoning, to control his impulses, and to understand the reaction of others. The State responds that Mr. Irick's reliance on Atkins and Roper is misplaced because Mr. Irick is neither mentally retarded nor underage. Additionally, the State says that the time for asking this Court to adopt a new constitutional rule has long passed. We agree with the State that the present appeal from the trial court's judgment finding Mr. Irick competent to be executed is not the proper proceeding in which to ask this Court to adopt a new constitutional rule barring execution of persons who suffer from severe mental illnesses but who are otherwise competent under the standards adopted in Panetti, Ford, and Van Tran. A competency proceeding is sui generis; it is not a trial. Coe, 17 S.W.3d at 214. The only issue in a competency proceeding is the prisoner's mental state. Id. at 215. The Court in Coe emphasize[d] that the only relevant constitutional concern at a competency-to-be-executed hearing is the right to have the substantive Eighth Amendment claim determined in a manner that comports with procedural due process. Id. at 211. Notwithstanding the issues of timeliness and procedural propriety, we note that, while Mr. Irick has cited dissenting and concurring opinions in support of his argument, he has not cited, and research has not revealed, any majority court decision adopting a per se ban on the execution of severely mentally ill prisoners who are nonetheless competent to be executed. Furthermore, Connecticut appears to be the only state that has adopted a statute barring the execution of offenders who, at the time of the offense, had a significantly impaired ... ability to conform [their] conduct to the requirements of law. Conn. Gen.Stat. Ann. 53a-46a(h). [11] One commentator who advocates for a rule barring the execution of the mentally ill has stated that the categorical approach invoked by the Court in both Atkins and Roper would not be appropriate in the context of severe mental illness. Because mental illness varies considerably in its effects on those who experience it, a categorical exemption is not warranted. [12]