Supreme Court Weighs Constitutionality of Death Penalty for Intellectually Disabled

Tallguy88

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The Supreme Court heard arguments today in Moore v. Texas, a case involving intellectual disability medical standards and the death penalty.

Bobby James Moore was convicted 36 years ago in the shooting death of James McCarble, a 70-year-old store clerk, in Houston, Texas.

After an appeals court again sentenced him to death, Moore's attorneys sought relief.

In June, the high court agreed to hear the case.

We spoke with ABC News' Supreme Court contributor Kate Shaw about today's case and what the court might decide:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/supreme-co...h-penalty-mentally-disabled/story?id=43845732
 

Tallguy88

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The issue at hand is whether Texas' standard of mental deficiency is up to Supreme Court standards.

It's already unconstitutional to execute the mentally disabled, but the states get to decide how to define mental disability.
 
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The Hammer of Witches

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The death penalty should be used only if the person has no chance of rehabilitation. In the case of mentally ill, they should be in asylums which were unfortunately shut down as people today would rather just pump afflicted people full of drugs and forget about it. Since this is a mentally ill person that is sentenced to death I have conflicting views. If he can't be rehabilitated, and if he can comprehend what he did was wrong then the law regarding the death penalty should be upheld.
 
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Hank77

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Understanding that killing someone is wrong and understanding that you are killing or hurting someone are two different things. It is easy to see a case where someone that is mentally disables kills someone, but does not understand their crime.
I can see where they might not even understand what death is, that it is a permanent condition.
My friends little boy was six when he killed a bird. When it fell to the ground he tried to make it fly away. When it wouldn't move he went to his father crying, he didn't understand what his father had told him about not hitting animals with objects because he could hurt or even kill them. It wasn't until then that he understood what death is.
 
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Fantine

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The execution of the innocent is nothing new in Texas. It's easy for the police to wangle a fake confession out of a frightened, mentally handicapped man. So much faster than hunting for the person who might have framed him.

George W. Bush was a leader in executing the mentally handicapped.
 
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Tallguy88

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I am glad that the slaughter of the innocents may be halted.

God help them once Trump is president.
I don't think there is a question that this man is guilty. The question is whether he is mentally disabled enough to be exempt from the death penalty.
 
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Tallguy88

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It is very easy for a murderer to frame a mentally disabled person--and the Texas courts often don't give them adequate counsel.
This man was competent enough to represent himself at his initial trial and had appealed his sentence for over thirty years. It sounds like he has very good counsel now.
 
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Tallguy88

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Understanding that killing someone is wrong and understanding that you are killing or hurting someone are two different things. It is easy to see a case where someone that is mentally disables kills someone, but does not understand their crime.
He killed the man during an armed robbery and had four felony convictions prior to that. Like I said before, I don't think his guilt is in question, only his sentence.
 
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Tallguy88

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The execution of the innocent is nothing new in Texas. It's easy for the police to wangle a fake confession out of a frightened, mentally handicapped man. So much faster than hunting for the person who might have framed him.

George W. Bush was a leader in executing the mentally handicapped.
Do you have any proof or good evidence that this man is innocent? I haven't seen anyone argue that he did not kill the store clerk.
 
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NorthernWarrior

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They should not be executed and in many cases should not be in a prison at all. I know in my state they shut down the mental institutions pretty much and now prison is the new mental institution and this is not right

So murderers (who, AFAIK, are the only ones sentenced to death in the US) shouldn't even be in prison?
I vehemently disagree
 
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NorthernWarrior

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Dude I have been in a couple of the prisons here in my state and believe me that there are mentally disabled people in there for a lot less than murder. It is wrong

Someone has been sentenced to death for less than murder?
I find that difficult to believe. Can you provide evidence of this?

And yes....criminals should be kept away from the rest of society. Violent criminals especially.
 
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NorthernWarrior

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No, not death. My point was that mentally ill people should be in mental institutions and dont belong in prison at all

Murderers, rapists, and other violent criminals most definitely DO belong in prison, not being cuddled.
 
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psalms 91

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Mentally defienceint people most certainly do not belong in prison. I will give you as example, there is one man I talked to that was there for being a peeping tom, he had been caught 7 or 8 times. I asked him have you ever seen a naked woman and he responded no. Now if this man was all there I would say he deserved his fate but if you talked to him you knew he was not capable of understanding consequences and had no business being there. We have turned our prisons into mental institutions and that is not right
 
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