[Previous entry: "Pentagon Database Leaves No Child Alone"] [Next entry: "Scientist: Bird flu not biological weapon"]

02/04/2006:

"Hundreds of Mentally Ill to Be Executed in America: Amnesty"

02/02/06 "OneWorld" -- -- Amnesty International is asking that hundreds of mentally ill people facing the death penalty in American prisons have their sentences commuted.

Ten percent of the first 1,000 people executed in the United States since 1977 suffered from illnesses ranging from schizophrenia to post-traumatic stress disorder and brain damage, the leading rights watchdog and opponent of capital punishment said in a report released Tuesday.

Another 3,400 people remain on death row and 5-10 percent of them have mental illnesses, Amnesty said, citing estimates by the National Institute of Mental Health.

The revelations coincided with hearings Wednesday in which U.S. senators heard about the death penalty from relatives of crime victims.
informationclearinghouse.info