Death Penalty and Mentally Ill Defendants

[摘要] Eighth Amendmentcruel and unusual punishmentintellectual disabilitydeath penaltysavings-clauseUpdates to Medical Diagnostic Standards Do Not Warrant Review of Previously Heard Claims of Intellectual Disability in Federal Prisoners Sentenced to DeathIn Bourgeois v. Watson, 977 F.3d 620 (7th Cir. 2020), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed the district court’s grant of a stay of execution and denied the petitioner’s habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 (2009) on the basis that the petitioner had, via 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (2009), previously fully litigated his intellectual disability claim as a basis for death penalty prohibition according to both the Federal Death Penalty Act (FDPA), 18 U.S.C. § 3596(c) (1994), and Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002). The Seventh Circuit held that the petitioner’s claims did not meet the criteria for subsequent litigation under 28 U.S.C. § 2255(e), also known as the “savings-clause.”.

[学科分类] 儿科学

[关键词] Eighth Amendment;cruel and unusual punishment;intellectual disability;death penalty;savings-clause