February , 2019
RE: Senate Bill 17, An act relating to serious mental illness
Dear
| write to ask that you support SB 17 without amendment.
This bill precludes a seriously mentally ill defendant at the time of the charged offense from being
sentenced to death for trials commencing after enactment of the act. Public safety would be assured
because life without parole remains a sentence for those who are found seriously mentally ill.
The bill should not be amended. The bill should have a process identical to what is already in existence
for an analogous condition. The genius of having a process that is the same as the process for
determining whether a defendant is intellectually disabled is that this process has been in existence
since 1990 and is a proven, common-sense effective process.
We all know that people whose mental processes are distorted by serious mental illness have reduced
individual culpability. They are not responsible for the fact of their own serious mental illness. Serious
mental illness is not of the person’s choosing as opposed to the use of drugs or alcohol.
The bill is narrow and protection of society is insured. It does not provide that everyone who has a
mental illness be exempt from capital punishment. Rather it considers the degree and type of mental
illness and how it contributed to the capital crime. It only applies to those defendants whose trials
commence after enactment of the legislation. It specifically excludes from the exemption those
diagnosed with conditions that are manifested primarily by repeated criminal conduct or attributable
solely to the acute effects of the voluntary use of alcohol or other drugs. Unlike the insanity defense, the
proposed bill only takes the penalty of death off the table, and so protection of society through
incapacitation is unimpaired. And it is up to a judge to make the determination.
Importantly, this measure will save costs as there will be a reliable determination before trial after all
sides present all of their evidence. At a time when counties and the criminal justice system are struggling
to find enough money to meet responsibilities, this is a prudent way to safely reduce costs to counties
and the state and provide punishment that is proportionate to culpability.
And it is what people want as 82% of Kentuckians oppose sentencing severely mentally ill people to
death.
Sincerely,
NAMI
CCK
KCC
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