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Schedule Registration Housing |
| Saturday, January 8, 2000 8:30-10:15 a.m. |
Delaware Suite B
Marriott Wardman Park Hotel Lobby Level |
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Section on Law and Mental Disability |
|
| Susan Daicoff, Capital University, Chair | |
| Robert F. Schopp, University of Nebraska, Program Chair |
| Mental Disability and Capital Punishment |
| Moderator: | |
| Robert F. Schopp, University of Nebraska | |
| Speakers: | |
| Phyllis L. Crocker, Cleveland State University
James W. Ellis, University of New Mexico Victor L. Streib, Ohio Northern University Bruce J. Winick, University of Miami |
| Mental health law addresses a wide variety of legal rules and procedures through which legal institutions treat people differently than they treat most citizens because these individuals suffer some impairment of psychological functioning. Such differential treatment requires clear justification in a liberal democracy that purports to vest fundamental value in equal standing under law. Capital punishment and the manner in which we address, or fail to address, the significance of various forms of psychological impairment for this purpose draws stark attention to these justificatory questions. This panel examines the manner in which legal institutions currently accommodate, or should accommodate, the presence of psychological impairment in the administration of capital punishment. Panel members address the significance of various forms of psychological impairment for the purposes of defining defensible limits on eligibility for capital punishment, admitting expert testimony regarding these disorders in the sentencing hearing, and defining the parameters of the right to refuse treatment intended to render the individual competent to face execution. Panel members also discuss the relationships between psychological impairment and apparently related concerns regarding juvenile status and childhood abuse as these apply to eligibility for capital punishment. |
| Business Meeting at Program Conclusion |