Death Penalty
...fferently than a mental illness. Retardation is defined by any abnormal intellectual development as a result of congenital causes, brain injury, or disease before the age of eighteen and characterized by any of various cognitive deficiencies, including impaired learning, social, and vocational ability (www.dictionary.com). Some of these criminals with IQ’s less than 70 have the mental capacity of six and seven year olds and will do anything that someone tells them to do; not necessarily by choice but instead by the lack of knowing what is right and wrong. In several cases I have read about, a mentally retarded person will get influenced by a close “friend” or family member to commit such crimes as murder or robbery. When the case finally goes to trial the so called friend will be charged with being an accomplice to the crime while the mentally challenged individual (who doesn’t even remember why he is sitting in the court room) will be charged with death by the electric chair. So meanwhile the “friend”, who used the retarded individual to do his dirty work for him, serves a minimal sentence as his gunny pig gets electrocuted. Sad but true, the mentally impaired are more likely to make false confessions, mainly in part because they are more vulnerable to suggestion that in fact they may have committed the crime. This makes them very prone to being set up for crimes they did not commit or even being convinced that they did commit the crime while being questioned by police. They are even more likely to go along, agree and comply with the police or any authority figure, saying what the police want them to say and therefore providing a false confession. A mind blowing example of a false confession gone wrong is in 1983, when police convinced a mentally challenged man by the name of Earl Washington to make a statement concerning the rape and murder of a woman in Virginia. The statements, which were video taped, were used against him and one year later he was convicted and sentenced to death by the electric chair. Sixteen years later, DNA tests confirmed that Earl was innocent and it turned out that in fact he no involvement with this crime. I am in no way against the death penalty if the crime is fitting and there is a overwhelming amount of evidence to prove the inmates guilt. On the other hand, I completely disagree with putting a guilty mentally handicapped person i...