at the national level of death penalty organizing it's often referred to as the next frontier and with good reason...

consider that in 2002, in atkins v. virginia, the supreme court prohibited the death penalty for people with mental retardation...the court reasoned that the impairments of defendants with mental retardation diminish their personal culpability and their ability to understand consequences, rendering the death penalty unjustifiable on grounds of retribution or deterrence...

and here's the rub ... there is a profound inconsistency in exempting people with mental retardation from the death penalty while those with serious mental illness remain exposed to it...the same rationale of diminished culpability, greater vulnerability and limited capacity applies to defendants afflicted with severe mental illness...

here's what nami executive director michael fitzpatrick had to say on the subject in january... (click above)

now i suffer from depression and so i know at least a little bit about the ups and downs of struggling with and managing a mental illness ... and here in tennessee the cases of greg thompson, abu-ali abdur'rahman, and paul reid both revolve around our lack of understanding about and the stigma that pervades mental illness...

if you have contacts and/or experience with the incarceration (and extermination) of the mentally ill drop us a line at tcask ... we'll be talking more about this over time so stay tuned!