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Panetti v. Quarterman: Mental Illness, the Death Penalty, and Human Dignity

Richard J. Bonnie, University of Virginia School of Law

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Forthcoming: 5 Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law ____2007

Abstract

In Panetti v. Quarterman, 127 S. Ct. 2842 (2007), the Supreme Court held, in a 5-4 decision, that a delusional mentally ill prisoner who is aware that the State intends to execute him based on his conviction for a capital crime is not, based on that finding alone, competent for execution under the Eighth Amendment. The Panetti litigation highlights two deeply troubling problems in death penalty adjudication. First, it exposes the utter failure of the criminal justice system to take adequate account of the effects of severe mental illness in capital cases, specifically by failing to assure a fair defense for defendants with mental disabilities, by failing to give morally appropriate mitigating effect to claims of diminished responsibility at the time of the crime, and by failing to correct these deficiencies in post-conviction proceedings. Indifference to claims of incompetence on the eve of execution is only the last link in a long chain of indifference and neglect. Second, the Panetti litigation, seen in its entirety, illustrates the unwillingness of the Texas courts to take the necessary steps to assure the “heightened need for reliability” in capital adjudications. After reviewing Panetti’s trial and his unsuccessful post-conviction challenge to his conviction and death sentence, this paper explores the procedural and substantive aspects of his claim that he is not competent to be executed. It focuses particularly on Justice Kennedy’s assertion that such an execution would not further the retributive goal of punishment, and argues instead that executing a prisoner who lacks a “rational understanding” of the purpose of his execution violates the prisoner’s right to be treated with dignity as a person

Subject Area

Criminal Law and Procedure, Public Law and Legal Theory

Recommended Citation

Richard J. Bonnie, "Panetti v. Quarterman: Mental Illness, the Death Penalty, and Human Dignity" (October 2007). University of Virginia Legal Working Paper Series. University of Virginia Public Law and Legal Theory Working Paper Series. Working Paper 71.
http://law.bepress.com/uvalwps/uva_publiclaw/art71

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