There is no question that the death penalty is disproportionately imposed in cases involving defendants with mental disabilities.
There is clear, systemic bias at all stages of the prosecution and the sentencing process – in determining who is competent to be executed, in the assessment of mitigation evidence, in the ways that counsel is assigned, in the ways that jury determinations are often contaminated by stereotyped preconceptions of persons with mental disabilities, in the ways that cynical expert testimony reflects a propensity on the part of some experts to purposely distort their testimony in order to achieve desired ends. These questions are shockingly ignored at all levels of the criminal justice system, and by society in general. Here, Michael Perlin explores the relationship between mental disabilities and the death penalty and explains why and how this state of affairs has come to be, to explore why it is necessary to identify the factors that have contributed to this scandalous and shameful policy morass, to highlight the series of policy choices that need immediate remediation, and to offer some suggestions that might meaningfully ameliorate the situation.
Using real cases to illustrate the ways in which the persons with mental disabilities are unable to receive fair treatment during death penalty trials, he demonstrates the depth of the problem and the way it’s been institutionalized so as to be an accepted part of our system. He calls for a new approach, and greater attention to the issues that have gone overlooked for so long.Industry Reviews
Professor Michael Perlin, perhaps the most well-known author on Mental Health Law, has added a most significant and comprehensive book on Mental Disability and the Death Penalty. He is courageous in his assault on the criminal justice system that has perverted the punishment of death, especially for those who are mentally retarded or mentally ill. He is forceful in his critique of all parties participating in death penalty cases involving the mentally disabled, including attorneys, judges, juries and expert witnesses. His experience as a former public defender, director of a state mental health advocacy program, and currently law professor have given him the broad perspective to analyze the death penalty as it is administered in the United States and throughout the world in an uneven and unfair manner. He expresses his hope that his treatise will bring sanity to the administration of justice when the death penalty is imposed on the mentally disabled. I share his concerns and his hopes: his book is an important beginning.
