Individualizing justice after Atkins.

نویسنده

  • S Jan Brakel
چکیده

On August 6, 2005, newspapers and other media outlets reported that Daryl Atkins had been determined by a Virginia jury not to be retarded and therefore was mentally competent to receive the death penalty. A judge immediately scheduled his execution for December. Atkins, of course, is the convicted murderer whose case three years earlier had led the U.S. Supreme Court, in a landmark ruling, to declare that mentally retarded offenders are constitutionally exempt from the death penalty. While a bitter irony for Atkins, his family, and supporters, the Virginia jury's finding suggests that the practical effects of the Supreme Court's decision are less dramatic than many had anticipated. It shows that mere labels need not be determinative and that judges and juries as well as mental health experts called to assist them in capital cases can continue to work toward an individualized brand of justice.

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

Discontinuous Tradition of Sentencing Discretion: Koon's Failure to Recognize the Reshaping of Judicial Discretion under the Guidelines, The

Looked at from a general science of law, the effective individualizing agency in the administration of justice is discretion .... Discretion is an authority conferred by law to act in certain conditions or situations in accordance with an official's or an official agency's own considered judgment and conscience .'

متن کامل

Comparison of seizure reduction and serum fatty acid levels after receiving the ketogenic and modified Atkins diet

The ketogenic diet (KD) and the modified Atkins diet are effective therapies for intractable epilepsy. We compared retrospectively the KD and modified Atkins diet in 27 children and also assessed serum long chain fatty acid profiles. After 3 months, using an intent-to-treat analysis, the KD was more successful, with >50% seizure reduction in 11/17 (65%) vs. 2/10 (20%) with the modified Atkins d...

متن کامل

Commentary: Atkins and clinical practice.

The American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law’s Committee on the Developmentally Disabled, founded in 1990, has continually grappled with the inequities faced by persons with mental retardation within the criminal justice system. Not the least of our concerns has been capital sentencing and execution of disabled defendants. Indeed, the Committee cut its teeth on the 1989 Supreme Court decision...

متن کامل

Novel presentation of coeliac disease after following the Atkins’ low carbohydrate diet

Low carbohydrate diets are currently being promoted as an effective treatment for weight reduction. The most popular, the Atkins’ diet, is a worldwide bestseller with over 10 million book copies sold (the earliest being Dr Atkins’ New Diet Revolution). Two randomised clinical trials in obese patients have shown effective weight loss at six months on the Atkins’ diet compared with a low fat calo...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

عنوان ژورنال:
  • The journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law

دوره 34 1  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2006