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Eighteen of the 30 states with the death penalty now prohibit the execution of mentally retarded killers. Thirteen years ago the U.S. Supreme Court said that subjecting the mentally retarded to the death penalty does not amount to “cruel and unusual punishment.” But last month, the high court again tackled the issue, hearing the case of a Virginia death row inmate. And this year Virginia lawmakers considered proposals to prohibit the practice. Joanmarie Davoli (George Mason University), director of the Law and Psychiatry Center, and Margaret Edds (Virginia Foundation for the Humanities), a columnist and editorial writer for The Virginian-Pilot, discuss some of the questions justices and lawmakers must address. Also featured: A look at the case of Daryl Atkins, the Virginia man whose appeal the Supreme Court heard.
