Texas may ban executing retarded

Lethal injection is the commonest form of execution

The legislature in the US state of Texas has passed a bill outlawing the execution of mentally retarded murderers.

It now goes to Governor Rick Perry for final approval, but the governor has said he will wait for the results of a Supreme Court ruling before deciding whether or not to sign it into law.

The Supreme Court is currently considering whether the execution of mentally retarded people is constitutional.

It is wrong to execute a person who is mentally retarded

Juan Hinojosa,
House sponsor

Texas has executed 246 people, far more than any other state, since the resumption of the death penalty in the US in 1976 - six of those were mentally retarded.

"This legislation is a major step forward that proves that we can be tough on crime and still have compassionate justice, even in the wild, wild West," the bill's Senate sponsor, Rodney Ellis, said.

It passed in the Senate by a vote of 20-9 and in the House 80-56.

"It is wrong to execute a person who is mentally retarded," House sponsor Juan Hinojosa said.

Supreme Court case

The case of John Paul Penry, who is awaiting execution in Texas, is currently before the Supreme Court.

John Paul Penry's case is also being considered

Penry - who is 44 but is said to have a mental age of 7 - was convicted of raping and fatally beating a stabbing Pamela Mosely Carpenter in her home in 1979.

The court used Penry's case in 1988 to rule that mentally retarded murderers could be executed.

His lawyers are arguing that jurors were not given the chance to assess his mental abilities.

Under the Texas legislation, a defendant's mental capabilities will be determined during the punishment phase of the trial.

Defendants found to be mentally retarded would automatically have death sentences changed to life imprisonment.

Change rejected

The Texas legislature earlier this year rejected a bill that would have allowed jurors to sentence convicted killers to life imprisonment with no chance of parole.

As the law stands now, juries can either sentence murderers to death or life imprisonment with a possibility of parole after 40 years.

Thirty-eight of the 50 US states have capital punishment. Fifteen states and the federal government prohibit the execution of mentally retarded killers.

More than 700 people have been executed in the US since the death penalty was re-introduced in 1976, including 85 last year.

Timothy McVeigh is scheduled to become the first person executed by the federal government since 1963.