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| N.C. bans execution of retarded |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 08/09/2001 |
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Gov. Mike Easley recently signed legislation that bans executions of the mentally retarded. 'The prosecutors and legislators feel this is a fair bill,'' Easley said in a statement. 'I have sincere reservations because I support the death penalty and I believe that a defendant who knows right from wrong, and is capable of assisting his counsel in his defense in court, should be subject to the same punishment as anyone else.'' Easley, a former prosecutor and state attorney general, agreed to sign the legislation because of the consensus of support. He said support from the state district attorney's association and Attorney General Roy Cooper were 'compelling factors'' in his decision. Even without the governor's signature, the bill would have become law on August 5 barring a veto. Seventeen other states and the federal government already had some kind of ban on executions of the mentally retarded, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The new law would define as mentally retarded anyone whose IQ was recorded at 70 or lower before the age of 18, with 'significant limitations in adaptive functioning'' at the same time. A mentally retarded person still could be sentenced to life in prison without parole for first-degree murder. The legislation requires a unanimous jury decision to find that a murder defendant is mentally retarded and not subject to the death penalty. Lawmakers approved the ban August 2. The law will apply to capital cases that begin after Oct. 1, though current death row inmates would have several months to seek hearings on the issue. |
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