Severe Mental Illness and the Death Penalty
By Michael Stone
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that juveniles and people with intellectual
disabilities should not be executed due to their diminished culpability.
However, it remains legal to execute people who suffered from severe mental
illness (SMI) at the time of the offense. While our understanding of mental illness
improves every day, it is surprising that people with severe mental illnesses, like
schizophrenia, can still be subject to the death penalty in Virginia.
I firmly believe that anyone who commits a crime should face very serious
consequences for it. However, in light of our increased understanding of the
severe impairments brought by mental illness, I believe that life in prison without
parole is the appropriate punishment for those with documented severe mental
illness at the time of their crime.
Severe mental illness is characterized by psychotic episodes, which affect one’s
ability to exercise rational judgment. A severe mental illness can also lead to
wrongful conviction; several studies show a link between mental illness and false
confession.
In addition, the money saved by not sentencing someone to death in these cases
could be used to solve cold cases, train and staff police forces, fund victims’
services, or expand mental health programs.
Many organizations agree that the time for reform has come. The American
Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the National
Alliance on Mental Illness, Mental Health America and the American Bar
Association have all expressed their opposition to the use of the death penalty for
those with severe mentally illness.
In our state, the National Alliance on Mental Illness Virginia, Virginia Counselors
Association, Mental Health America of Virginia, the disAbility Law Center, VOCAL
and the National Association of Social Workers Virginia Chapter have endorsed
legislation to exclude those with severe mental illness from the death penalty.
I find it unconscionable that the Commonwealth can and does execute people who
suffer from severe mental illness. Severely mentally disabled defendants are not
the “worst of the worst” for whom the death penalty is intended, and no purpose is
served by their execution.
While it is difficult to know how many people would be affected by the SMI
exemption in Virginia, the requirement of the presence of a severe mental illness
with significantly impaired capacity at the time of the offense ensures that this
would remain a limited exemption. Mental Health America estimates that 5 to 20
percent of inmates currently on death row in the United States have a severe
mental illness.
The legislation sponsored by Del. Jay Leftwich (HB 1522) has a restrictive
definition that includes only the most serious forms of mental illness. Many
diagnoses — and many people with any given diagnosis — would not meet the
requirements of this proposed legislative exemption.
It is time that Virginia stops sentencing people with severe mental illness to death.
Life in prison without parole is a more appropriate sentence for offenders with SMI
who have a diminished culpability for their actions.
Michael Stone is the Executive Director of Virginians for Alternatives to the
Death Penalty. He worked as the Respect Life Coordinator for the Catholic
Diocese of Richmond from 1984 to 2009 and served on the board of the
Virginia Catholic Conference for its first five years.
