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When is a Person too Insane to Execute?
When is a Person too Insane to Execute?
by Matt Clarke
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is hearing arguments to determine whether a Texas death row prisoner is too mentally ill to execute for murdering his in-laws as their daughter and granddaughter looked on.
The …
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More from this issue:
- Twenty-Five Years of Prison Legal News, by Paul Wright
- HRDC Litigation Project Update – 25th Anniversary Edition, by Lance Weber
- News in Brief
- Ohio Prisoner Represents Himself, Beats Attempted Murder Charges
- Dehydration Death of North Carolina Prisoner Prompts Investigations, Firings, Resignations, by Christopher Zoukis
- When is a Person too Insane to Execute?, by Matthew Clarke
- Disabled Minnesota Prisoner Settles Discrimination Lawsuit for $10,000, Other Relief, by Robert Warlick
- Convictions Affirmed for Two Former Rhode Island Guards Who Assaulted Prisoners
- Maryland County Jail Guards Receive Rights Mirroring Those of State Prison Guards
- $500,000 Settlement in Georgia Prisoner’s Death while on Work Crew
- Easing Residency Restrictions Helps Curb Homelessness Among Registered Sex Offenders, by Matthew Clarke
- Former Prisoner Receives $50,000 Settlement for Beating by Ohio Jail Guard, by Derek Gilna
- First Circuit Vacates Massachusetts Prisoner’s $325,956.36 Damages, Attorney Fee Award, by Matthew Clarke
- Due Process Requires Notice Prior to Court-Ordered Deduction from Prisoners’ Accounts, by David Reutter
- California Pays $585,000 to Settle Suit by Prisoner Who Lost Eye Due to Poor Medical Care, by Michael Brodheim
- Iowa DOC May Not Switch Administrative Law Judges in Mid-Disciplinary Process, by Matthew Clarke
- The Wal-Mart Model: Not Just for Retail, Now It’s for Private Prisons Too!, by Carl Takei
- Fifth Circuit Reinstates Dallas County Jail Excessive Force Suit, by Matthew Clarke
- Prisoner Files Lawsuit after Being Pepper Sprayed in Restraint Chair, by Derek Gilna
- $50,000 Settlement for Prisoner’s Suicide at Iowa County Jail, by Gary Hunter
- Maine Sheriff, Mired in Controversy, Defeated in Re-election Bid
- Georgia Jail Pays $937,500 in Wrongful Death Settlement
- Former Prisoner Left Blind by Assault Obtains Reversal of FTCA Claim, by David Reutter
- Seventh Circuit Orders New Trial due to Shackling of Prisoner Plaintiff, by Lonnie Burton
- New Jersey, Ohio DOCs Significantly Reduce Phone Rates
- $7,500 Award for Ohio Prisoner in Slip and Fall Accident, by David Reutter
- Exonerated Colorado Prisoner Receives $1.2 Million under New Compensation Law, by Joe Watson
- Accuracy of Widely-Used Polygraph Machine Under Fire, by Derek Gilna
- The Persistence of Mass Incarceration, by James Kilgore
- Lifetime GPS Monitoring of Sex Offenders Upheld in South Carolina, by Lonnie Burton
- Oregon Mental Patient’s Death Nets $1.4 Million, by Mark Wilson
- Oregon Parole Board Orders Must Explain Decisions, but Orders Defined to Include Administrative Review Responses, by Mark Wilson
- Human Rights Groups, Environmentalists Oppose New Federal Prison on Former Coal Mine in Kentucky, by Panagioti Tsolkas
- Ninth Circuit Upholds $106,000 in Damages Plus Attorney Fees for Withheld Evidence, by Mark Wilson
- ICE Settles New York Immigration Raid Lawsuit for $1 Million, by Matthew Clarke
- California Probation Cannot Exceed Maximum for Unpaid Restitution, by Mark Wilson
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
More from Matthew Clarke:
- Idaho Supreme Court Holds Indigent Parents Have Constitutional Right to Counsel at Public Expense, July 1, 2026
- Free Phone Calls Saved Prisoners and Their Families More than $600 Million, Report Finds, July 1, 2026
- California Appeals Court Holds Defendant Cannot Be Penalized for Failing to Appear at Sentencing When He Was Being Held in Another County’s Jail on Preexisting Charges, July 1, 2026
- SCOTUS Reverses Mississippi Capital Conviction, July 1, 2026
- Tenth Circuit Upholds $33 Million Jury Award in Suit Over Detainee’s Horrific Death in Oklahoma County Jail, July 1, 2026
- Texas Prison System Bans Prisoners from Receiving Hardback and Used Books, July 1, 2026
- CoreCivic’s Long Record of Abuse and Neglect in Tennessee, June 1, 2026
- Dallas County Jail Deaths, Many Preventable, Dramatically Increase Under Sheriff Marian Brown, June 1, 2026
- Ninth Circuit Lets Stand Ruling That Federal Prisoners’ Gradually Accumulated Savings Are Subject to Restitution Turnover, June 1, 2026
- Seventh Circuit Reinstates Illinois Prisoner’s Lawsuit Against Prison Dental Staff, June 1, 2026
More from these topics:
- Alabama Barred from Executing Prisoner by Nitrogen Hypoxia, July 1, 2026. Totality of Conditions, Eighth Amendment, Death Penalty, Cruel and Unusual Punishment, Wrongful Use of Force.
- Fifth Circuit Kills Louisiana Prison Medical and Mental Health Care Reform, July 1, 2026. Medical, Conditions of Confinement, PLRA, Immunity/Liability, Mental Health.
- $25,000 Paid to Former New York Jail Detainee Subjected to Delayed Healthcare and Denied Mental Healthcare— Despite Seven Suicide Attempts, July 1, 2026. Failure to Treat, Conditions of Confinement, Mental Health, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Deliberate Indifference.
- Idaho Will Recruit Law Enforcement Volunteers for Firing Squad Executions, July 1, 2026. Death Penalty, Method of Execution.
- Three Women Died at a Michigan Prison in Less than a Month, July 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Failure to Treat, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Deliberate Indifference.
- After Spoliation Sanction, CoreCivic Settles Suit Over Suicide in New Mexico ICE Lockup, July 1, 2026. Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Discovery, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides.
- Texas Executes 600th Prisoner Since Reinstating Death Penalty in 1976, June 1, 2026. Racial Discrimination, Statistics/Trends, Death Penalty, Mental Retardation/Intellectual Disability.
- Settlement Reached in Mental Health Care Class-Action at San Diego County Jails, June 1, 2026. Settlements, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Class Actions, Administrative Detention/Segregation, Inadequate Health Care Facilities.
- $250,000 Paid by Maine to Former Prisoner Held in Solitary Confinement—Which the State DOC Says Doesn’t Exist, June 1, 2026. DOC/BOP misconduct, Americans with Disabilities Act, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
- Spike in Massachusetts Prisoner Suicides Blamed on Isolation, K-2 and Spotty Mental Healthcare, May 1, 2026. DOJ CRIPA Actions, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, Confinement in Segregated Housing, Administrative Detention/Segregation.

