Should Mentally Ill People Be Executed

 

Should Mentally Ill People Be Executed?

Charles Singleton was convicted for murder in 1979 and was sentenced to death. While on death row, he developed a mental illness and was incapacitated for execution. He was forcibly put on antipsychotics in order to improve his condition and make him fit for execution. There are two arguments that arise; whether mentally ill people should be exempt from execution and whether medicine should be used to make people sane enough to execute. This paper will seek to prove the hypothesis as to whether mentally ill people should be forcibly placed on medication so that they can be better for execution.

Singleton had paranoid schizophrenia which subsided only when he was on medication. However, he refused to voluntarily take the medication meaning that he would never have been sane enough for execution. In normal patients, those who have not been convicted of any crimes, the law dictates that they can be placed on forcible medication so that they cease to be a danger unto themselves and unto others (Swedlow, 2003). It is also considered inhumane and criminal to deny mentally ill people the medication they require to improve their quality of life. The case of Singleton being forcibly medicated is not special. Many people with mental illnesses are forcibly medicated on a daily basis as a way of making them function normally so that they do not hurt themselves and others. It is my position that the court was justified in ordering that Singleton be placed on forcible medication so that he recovered from his condition for execution.

It is universally known that medicine is used to relieve certain conditions that compromise normal body functioning. In most cases, the use of medicine is temporal and the individual reverts back to the condition once the medication wears out (Dillard, 2012). The prescription of antipsychotics to Singleton was meant to be an end in itself. This is because failure of taking the medication meant that he reverted back to his condition. The court was right in having him forcibly medicated. There were only two options available. Either wait for him to voluntarily take his medication or make him take it. The outcome of either option was having him healthy and sane regardless of the reason. Inevitably, even if he voluntarily agreed to the medication, he was destined for execution as a way of justice being served on behalf of his victim. The court only did what was right for him regarding the condition that tormented him, for the judicial process where too many resources were being expended to keep his case and healthy going and to his victims whose wait for justice had been long.

On the contrary, it can be argued that the rights of the convict were compromised as his input into the matter of medication was not considered. In most cases, the jurisdiction of the court in ordering a person to be forcibly medicated is pegged on the danger he/she poses to himself and others (Parsons, 2003). This therefore is mainly reserved for those who are violent. In light of this and considering that Singleton was at no time considered violent, there was no basis, other than the desire to execute him, for forcing him onto medication. There is a school of though that argues that people should be medicated to heal and not to be executed. This argument is based on the ethics involved in medicating patients. The motive behind medicating Singleton was not the most noble and thus generated constructive criticism. The argument that the purpose of any person being treated for a condition was to make him/her better so that he/she can be executed is self defeating. There is no ethical explanation to saving a person’s life for the purpose of taking it.

Mentally ill people should be exempt from execution. There are three instances where the mental condition of an accused person should be considered: when committing the crime, during trial and sentencing and during execution. Singleton was deemed sane during the crime and during trial and sentencing. However, after being placed on death row, he deteriorated. He was deemed unfit for execution on the basis that he was convinced that his victim was still alive and that his cell was inhabited by demons. In Ford v. Wainwright, it is unconstitutional for an inmate on death row to be executed when he is not competent (Seeds, 2009). A person must be in a state where he/she understands the punishment meted on him/her and the underlying reasons for it. In this regard therefore, the court was right in staying Singleton’s execution until a time when he was deemed fit for execution. One may however argue that medicating him so that he understands the reason for the sentence only served his interest and not those of others involved. Considering all other factors, the fact that a person refuses to be voluntary medicated could be a delaying tactic so as to stay execution on grounds of being incompetent. To speed up the process and to save on resources, people who were sane when committing the crime should be forcibly medicated so that they regain sanity during the trial, sentencing and execution.

 

 

References

Dillard, A. (2012). Madness Alone Punishes the Madman: The Search for Moral Dignity in the Court’s Competency Doctrine as Applied in Capital Cases. 79 Tennessee Law Review 461

Parsons, D. (2003). Untreated Mental Illness Can Be Criminal. Los Angeles Times, November 3

Seeds, C. (2009). The Afterlife Of Ford And Panetti: Execution Competence And The Capacity To Assist Counsel. Saint Louis University Law Journal, Winter

Swedlow, K. (2003). Forced Medication of Legally Incompetent Prisoners: A Primer. Human Rights Magazine, Spring

 

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