'Borderline retarded' woman to be executed in the US.

[NOX]

A woman who is described as having an IQ of 70 is to be executed in Virginia, USA for arranging the murder of her husband and his son.... Any thoughts on the rights and wrongs of judicially killing even a killer with such a low IQ and other issues?

http://uk.news.yahoo....n-in-the-3fd0ae9.html

[mike11111]

Irrespective of the merits or otherwise of the death penalty, IQ is generally irrelevant unless it is such that the accused could not show the necessary intent to commit the crime. The evidence in this case seems to suggest that she was fully aware of what she was doing.

[carmalee]

I read this report and was very disturbed by it - there seemed to be a lot of discrepancies in the evidence - I believe that in US law if the IQ is below 70 then capital punishment cannot be carried out - she was assessed at 72 - how can she be killed on just one person's assessment? and the two accomplises who actually did the killing have been jailed for life. Very, very disturbing

[Gladeian]

Not disturbing at all - she has been convicted under US law - she has been assessed as being bright enough to know what she was doing was illegal - they have the death penalty for such offences - no problem - shame we dont have the same resolve to deter murderers i n the UK.

[sandyRoe]

If the death penalty deterred murderers killing in the USA would have stopped years ago. It doesn't work.

[mike11111]

It works to a certain extent - they don't do it again.

[sandyRoe]

If they were in prison for the rest of their lives the opportunity for further murder would be limited.

[mike11111]

Limited, but not eliminated. How often have you heard of fellow inmates and prison officers being killed by other prisoners?

[carmalee]

gladeian - well I find it disturbing

[andy-hughes]

I find the notion of capital punishment unacceptable, but the concept of an intelligence 'cut off' point is an obscenity.

So now you have to be 'bright enough' to be executed?

What is the world coming to ...

[joko]

IQ tests are all about solving mathematical and lingusitic problems...'doing sums and spelling' etc

it does not make someone retarded because they cannot do them fast enough...

it also doesnt mean they dont know right from wrong or that murder is a crime...

[NoMercy]

I am totally against any form of state-sponsored execution.

[mike11111]

What disturbs me most is the fact that the amount of time a prisoner spends on death row before eventual execution often far exceeds the time served by murderers in the UK before release. Before the abolition of capital punishment in this country it was an unwritten rule that if for any reason a death sentence could not be carried out within 90 days of being imposed, the condemned prisoner was automatically reprieved.

[NOX]

I personally find judicial murder as abhorrent as non judicial murder and to execute children (which as someone else pointed out the US does), and people whose faculties are in any way in quesiton- that's doubly abhorrent. Not to in any way denigrate the severity of any crime that they have comitted, but capital punishment clearly doesn't work otherwise the US would not have a violence and murder rate on an almost unparalled scale. I seriously hope soemone does something to assist this woman because to me it's a real travesty to execute anyone who has an IQ of around 70.

[Clanad]

However (in fairness I'll disclose that I'm a U.S. citizen) the length of time to enforce the executon is due to the numerous appeals that have to be satisfied by various courts.

Tell me about the kids that supposedly are executed...
Or does it come down to your definition of a "kid"

The problem with stating "the death penalty doesn't deter crime" is that it's statistically impossible to interview or otherise identify people that didn't commit a crime by way of knowing, if caught, the could be executed...

And... the courts and laws themselves have defined 'intelligence' (actually it's the ability to know right from wrong and to assist in providng ones defense) therefore, by reasoning that ones intelligence shouldn't be a defining factor would automatically make every defense one of "ignorance of the law", no? In which case, no one would be punished for anything... ("Sorry, your Honor, I didn't know that's what the law says"... "That's Ok sonny... just run right along now, just be careful of the next time though")

[mike11111]

I think the confusion arising over the execution of 'kids' is that while the minimum age for execution is 18, some people are executed for crimes committed whilst under that age, although that was never the law in the UK (from the 20thC onwards).

[NOX]

Sorry Clanad, let me make that slightly clearer regarding executing children. It's true that the Us did somewhat clean it's act up in 2005 when it decided that no-one under 18 ought to be executed however, that does not stop people of 18 being executed for crimes they committed whilst still children and since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976, 22 people have been executed for crimes committed while they were under the age of 18.
I hope that clarifies what I'm talking about, and I doubt anyone would consider a 16 year old a grown up, especially in America where kids are kept so 'young' right up into their 20's with alcohol laws etc being very stringent. If they are adults then why ever can't they make the informed decision to have a drink- clearly the Govt considers them unable to make that decision- so why is the US still executing people under the age of 21?

[Coldicote]

Just think of it - waiting sometimes years to be killed and knowing it's coming to you. Killing in 'cold blood' is ghoulish and abhorrent. Life imprisonment, meaning life, should be the penalty.

[steg]

"12th woman out of 1200 executions" For Funks Sake what happened to equal opportunities