by William Reitz
Mustang Daily (California Poly State U.)
U-Wire
The Supreme Court issued an 11th-hour stay earlier this month that stopped the execution of 42-year-old convicted murderer James Colburn, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, a serious mental illness whose symptoms include delusions and hallucinations.
Ironically, he has repeatedly tried to kill himself.
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Justices have spent a lot of time defining when executions are cruel and unusual and when capital punishment can be imposed. In blocking the execution, the court acknowledged interest in a new area of capital punishment: The mentally ill.
In June, the court ruled 6-3 that executing "mentally retarded" defendants is cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment, but there was no mention of the mentally ill.
According to mental health experts, a major mental illness such as schizophrenia can be as debilitating as mental retardation in terms of the role it can play in criminal acts.
It is a natural impulse to want to hold someone responsible for heinous crimes. Justice seems to require it, but does the death penalty actually deter these crimes?
Former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno said she has yet to find any evidence that capital punishment deters crime.
"I have inquired for most of my adult life about studies that might show that the death penalty is a deterrent," Reno said. "And I have not seen any research that would substantiate that point."
The facts illustrate that the death penalty doesn't deter crime, and it is several times more expensive than life in prison without parole.
But isn't the death penalty necessary as just retribution for victims' families?
It would seem only natural that one would feel extreme anger and a desire for revenge if a loved one were taken away. However, satisfying the needs of victims cannot be what determines a just response by the court and society to such crimes.
A recent U.S. Justice Department study of public attitudes about crime and punishment found that about 60 to 80 percent of American adults say that they want to retain capital punishment. Numbers vary, depending upon the wording of the question asked by the pollsters.
When people were presented the facts about several crimes for which death was a possible punishment, a majority chose lengthy prison sentences as alternatives to the death penalty.
When asked whether they would like to see executions continue or have them replaced with a system that guaranteed life imprisonment with no hope for parole, that the inmate would work in the prison to earn money and that the money would be directed to helping the family of the person they killed, about 55 to 60 percent prefer the latter.
What justice is there in carrying out a capital punishment sentence for a person who suffers from voices and hallucinations caused by a disabling major mental illness? Adequate mental health services may have spared Colburn years of suffering, and might have spared his victim's life.
Looked at another way, it would be better for all and justice would be served if such serious mental health issues were addressed before there is any need to deal with them within the criminal justice system and on death row.
