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| Scott Panetti |
A group of conservatives said on Monday that Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) should stop the execution of a man whose lawyers say he is severely mentally ill, as long the state's parole board recommends it.
"Rather than serving as a measured response to murder, the execution of [Scott] Panetti would only serve to undermine the public's faith in a fair and moral justice system,' they said in a letter to the governor, which was signed by 20 conservative writers and leaders.
"As conservatives, we must be on guard that such an extraordinary government sanction not be used against a person who is mentally incapable of rational thought. It would be immoral for the government to take this man's life," they said.
Panetti was sentenced to death for murdering his in-laws - in front of his wife and daughter - in 1992.
His advocates say he has suffered from schizophrenia since before the crime was committed. They asked the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to recommend that Perry commute Panetti's sentence to life in prison. They have also asked the Supreme Court to stay his execution on Eighth Amendment grounds.
Prior to the crime, Panetti buried his furniture in his backyard because he believed that would stop the Devil from interfering in his life. He later subpoenaed Jesus while representing himself in his capital murder trial.
Prosecutors have said in the past that they believe Panetti's claims of XCmental illness to be a ruse.
The letter is signed by several prominent conservatives, including former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R), currently the president of the Senate Conservatives Fund, and writer Charles Murray.
The controversy over Panetti's execution - scheduled for Wednesday evening - comes at a time when conservatives are rethinking "tough on crime" rhetoric.
Increasingly, Republicans have joined Democrats in calling for a reduction in the number of people incarcerated in federal prison. Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) has partnered with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) on a prison reform package that would help divert low-risk offenders to other programs.
Others have called for more wide-ranging reforms. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has said that federal mandatory minimum sentences, which have helped contribute to the disproportionate incarceration of people of color, must be revised. He has also said that voting rights should be restored to offenders convicted of nonviolent felonies.
Texas has been hailed as a model for the nation for reducing its prison population.
The national trend in favor of criminal justice reform has not always included the death penalty. Despite a growing shortage of the drugs used for lethal injection, states have continued to execute prisoners.
There have been 33 executions so far in 2014. The number of executions nationally has fallen since it peaked in 1999, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Source: thehill.com, December 2, 2014
UN Asks Texas To Halt Inmate's Execution
Scott Panetti, who shot dead his in-laws in 1992, was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1978 but never ruled incompetent in court.
UN human rights investigators have called on the state of Texas and the US government to halt the execution of an inmate with a history of mental illness.
Scott Panetti, 56, is scheduled for lethal injection on Wednesday for the 1992 shooting deaths of his in-laws at their Fredericksburg home.
The UN experts contend that Panetti had "proven psychosocial disabilities" and killing him would breach international norms on the death penalty.
"Given the irreversible nature of the death penalty, we urgently appeal to the Government of the United States and the state of Texas to find a way to stop the scheduled execution ... ", Christof Heyns, UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, and UN torture investigator Juan Mendez said in a statement.
Panetti's lawyers have asked the US Supreme Court to halt the execution
Panetti was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1978 and had been in hospital more than a dozen times for treatment.
Mr Heyns said carrying out the death penalty of someone with mental illness may amount to an "arbitrary execution".
On Monday, Panetti's lawyers appealed to the US Supreme Court to halt the execution and asked the justices to determine whether mentally ill people should be exempt from the death penalty.
There was "no doubt" Panetti was severely mentally ill "before, during and after the crime for which he has been sentenced to death", his attorneys said.
Panetti was 34 when he forced his way into the home of Joe and Amanda Alvarado, where his estranged wife was staying with their 3-year-old daughter.
Authorities said Panetti assaulted his wife and when confronted by his in-laws, shot and killed them with a rifle. He then kidnapped his wife and daughter, taking them to cabin.
He released them and surrendered later that same day. He told police his alter ego "Sarge" killed his wife's parents.
No court has ruled Panetti was or is incompetent or insane.
At his trial, he "wore the garish costume of a dime-store cowboy as he represented himself" and "engaged in bizarre, incoherent and frightening behaviour", his attorneys said.
In 2002, Supreme Court justices prohibited the execution of people who are mentally impaired, ruling that it violated the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Capital punishment for mentally ill prisoners has been permitted, however, as long as the inmate has a factual and rational understanding of why he is being put to death.
An assistant Texas attorney general told the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals that although Panetti's medical records contain indications of mental illness, they "strongly indicate rational awareness of his impending execution and the reason for it".
Source: Sky News, December 2, 2014
Texas Gov. Rick Perry should spare Wisconsin native Scott Panetti
Scott Panetti should be held accountable for what he did - for shooting his wife's parents to death in 1992. But he should not be executed. Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry has the power to stop it before Panetti's scheduled death by lethal injection on Wednesday, and Perry should do so.
Panetti's lawyers have argued that killing Panetti, a native of Hayward, would "cross a moral line" and prove to be a "miserable spectacle."
They are right on both counts.
On Monday, a letter signed by a dozen conservative leaders led by Richard Viguerie, chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, urged Perry to spare Panetti.
They wrote: "Mr. Panetti is one of the most seriously mentally ill prisoners on death row in the United States. Rather than serving as a measured response to murder, the execution of Mr. Panetti would only serve to undermine the public's faith in a fair and moral justice system."
More than 75,000 people have signed a petition asking Perry to commute Panetti's sentence to life in prison without parole. That includes former presidential candidate Ron Paul and evangelical Christians, who argue that the government cannot be trusted with such matters. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals voted 5-4 to deny Panetti's appeal last week; his case now sits before federal court.
Panetti was a standout football player at Poynette High School before descending into the depths of mental illness. He dropped out of high school before graduation, joined the Navy and was discharged after hearing voices and hallucinating. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia and hospitalized 15 times over the next 14 years, all leading up to the tragedy that unfolded in Fredericksburg, Texas, on Sept. 8, 1992, when Panetti killed Joe and Amanda Alvarado.
Panetti's lawyers say that he thinks he is being put to death by Satan. Lawyers for the state claim that tapes of him talking to his parents show that he knows exactly why he is being executed.
But it's hard to imagine that Panetti would have been able to fake his illness for more than 20 years. The more likely explanation for his behavior both on the night of the murders and since is mental illness.
John Blume, a professor at Cornell University Law School, told the Journal Sentinel's Meg Kissinger that Panetti's case is a tragedy.
"This train never should have left the station," he said. "Panetti should never have been found competent to stand trial and to represent himself, and he shouldn't be allowed to be executed."
We agree, and Perry can see to it that he is not. There is no justice in killing a mentally incompetent man. There is justice both for the victims - and, in this case, for Panetti - by commuting his death warrant to a life sentence.
Source: AP, December 2, 2014
US Supreme Court asked to halt Texas execution
Attorneys who contend a condemned Texas inmate set to die this week is too delusional for execution asked the U.S. Supreme Court Monday to halt his lethal injection and determine whether mentally ill people should be exempt from the death penalty because it is unconstitutionally cruel punishment.
Scott Panetti, 56, is set for lethal injection Wednesday for the 1992 shooting deaths of his in-laws at their home in Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country.
There was "no doubt" Panetti was severely mentally ill "before, during and after the crime for which he has been sentenced to death," attorneys Gregory Wiercioch and Kathryn Kase told the justices. "And Mr. Panetti's mental state has further deteriorated since his last evaluation in 2007."
Panetti, a Hayward, Wisconsin, native, was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1978 and had been hospitalized more than a dozen times for treatment in the decade before killing Joe and Amanda Alvarado, his estranged wife's parents.
Justices in 2002 prohibited the execution of people who are mentally impaired, deciding it violated the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. But they have allowed capital punishment for mentally ill prisoners as long as the inmate has a factual and rational understanding of why he's being put to death.
The "rational understanding" provision was added by the Supreme Court in a 2007 ruling on an appeal from Panetti. Records indicate his case has gone to the Supreme Court at least five times since his 1995 conviction and sentence.
"Imposition of the death penalty on people with severe mental illness, as with people with intellectual disability, does not serve the two goals of deterrence and retribution because of their reduced moral culpability," Panetti's lawyers argued to the high court Monday.
Another appeal for Panetti pending before a federal appeals court seeks an execution delay for additional competency evaluations.
While his medical records contain indications of mental illness, they "strongly indicate rational awareness of his impending execution and the reason for it," Ellen Stewart-Klein, an assistant Texas attorney general, told the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
"Panetti's mental status has at best been severely exaggerated by his counsel," she said.
Also Monday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles refused a petition from Panetti's lawyers to delay his execution for 180 days or recommend to Republican Gov. Rick Perry that Panetti's death sentence be commuted to life, board spokesman Raymond Estrada said.
At his trial, Panetti "wore the garish costume of a dime-store cowboy as he represented himself" and "engaged in bizarre, incoherent and frightening behavior," his attorneys said.
His trial judge ruled he could be his own lawyer and appointed a standby attorney whom Panetti never consulted except to call as a witness during the trial's punishment phase.
No court has ruled Panetti was or is incompetent or insane.
Source: Associated Press, December 2, 2014
