Posted by Adriannie at ip68-11-155-122.br.no.cox.net on November 11, 2003 at 23:29:21:
In Reply to: Death to the mentally ill posted by freeleonardpeltier on November 11, 2003 at 18:55:06:
:
I am a graduate student who works in determining whether or not someone can be determined as not guilty by reason of insanity. The major document to dicern whether or not someone is 'insane' is the McNaughton rule. In this document it requires that we report the defendant's IQ and whether or not his IQ as well as a psychological disorder was the causal factor of the crime committed. If so, then typically there is a ruling of not guilty by reason of insanity. Nearly every defendent who has questionable mental health is examined via McNaughton criteria, therefore if a defendent with questionable mental health/status/intelligence is on death row, it most likely means that they were completely in charge of all faculties while committing the crime. Now whether or not they should be executed.... I'm not touching that. My point is simply that there are alot of checks and balances for anyone with mental or developmental disorders in a forensic facility.
Joseph Timothy Keel is scheduled to be executed in North Carolina on November 7, 2003. The State of North Carolina
: intends to execute Mr. Keel, despite the fact that he suffers from serious
: mental disabilities. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights has called for an end to the use of the death penalty against anyone suffering from any form of mental disorder.
: Obviously NC is ignoring the UN, but just wanted to get some opinioins. Do you feel the mentally ill should be treated like any other murderer?