Fifth Circuit Halts Execution Of Texas Inmate With Severe Mental Illness

USA Today (12/3, Jervis, Bacon) reports from Austin, TX that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Wednesday “halted the execution of Texas killer Scott Panetti, whose case has sparked a global debate over whether people with severe mental illnesses should be put to death for their crimes.” Panetti’s attorneys “say he is too delusional to be executed,” and the appeals court “granted a reprieve less than eight hours before Panetti was scheduled to receive a lethal injection,” saying “it needed more time to ‘allow us to fully consider the late-arriving and complex legal questions at issue in this matter.’” Meanwhile, “Paul Appelbaum, of the American Psychiatric Association, which has lobbied against Panetti’s execution, said he was ‘pleased and relieved’ by the ruling.”
Related Links:

— “Court halts execution of mentally ill Texas inmate,” Rick Jervis and John Bacon, USA Today, December 4, 2014.

Posted in In The News.