×
You've used up your 3 free articles for this month. Subscribe today.
Condemned Texas Prisoner Ruled Too Mentally Ill to Execute
Loaded on April 1, 2024
by Matthew Clarke
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2024, page 18
Filed under:
Death Penalty/Death Row,
Death Penalty,
Death Row,
Failure to Treat (Mental Illness),
Mental Health Experts,
Post Ake v. Oklahoma,
Judgment - Modification of.
Location:
Texas.
by Matt Clarke.
Condemned Texas prisoner Scott Louis Panetti, 65, was taken off the state’s death row on September 27, 2023, when the federal court for the Western District of Texas found him too insane to kill—or as the Court said, because he “lacks a rational understanding of …
Full article and associated cases available to subscribers.
As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login
More from this issue:
- NaphCare: More Proof That Privatized Healthcare Deals Death and Misery to the Incarcerated to Enhance Profits, by David Reutter
- Woman Denied Cardiac Care in Federal Prison in Texas—Despite Personal Assurance of BOP Medical Director
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- With Push to Empty North Carolina’s Death Row Comes Another to End Life Without Parole
- Drunken “Karen” Jail Guard in Michigan Invades Former Home, Demands to Speak to Prosecutor When Cops Arrive
- Months-Long Wisconsin Prison Lockdown Prompts Lawsuits
- Alaska Prisons Report Three Deaths in Three Days
- Florida County Makes Free Jail Phone Calls Available
- Colorado Prisoners Disciplined for Not Working Despite Ban on Prison Slavery
- From Prison Cook to Praised Pizza Chef
- Louisville Jail Records 15 Detainee Deaths, 16 Employees Fired
- 428 Georgia Prison Employees Criminally Charged in Five Years
- California Prisons Locked Down After Massive Riot Hospitalizes Prisoner, Eight Guards
- One Detainee Dying Every Week in L.A. County Jails
- Sentencing Project Finds “Important Inroads” Against Mass Incarceration, Racial Inequality Behind Bars
- HRDC Awarded Over $130,000 in Legal Costs and Fees for Defendant’s “Bad Faith” in Maine Records Lawsuit, by David Reutter
- Condemned Texas Prisoner Ruled Too Mentally Ill to Execute, by Matthew Clarke
- Oregon Prisoner’s Parole Deferral Based on “Dangerous Offender” Statute Reversed
- Maryland Compensates Exonerated Prisoner Over $340,000
- Seventh Circuit Again Rejects Challenge to Three-Book Limit at Cook County Jail by Now-Dead Detainee, by David Reutter
- $33 Million Awarded to Family of Oklahoma Jail Detainee Mocked By Nurse and Guards As He Died Begging for Help, by Douglas Ankney
- $9,000 Settlement in Wisconsin Prisoner’s Heat-Related Illness Suit, by Matthew Clarke
- Sixth Circuit Refuses Michigan Prisoner’s Excessive Force Claim Despite Guard’s Conviction for Battery, by David Reutter
- Lights, Camera, Action! “Dead Man Walking” Comes to Sing Sing
- Parole and Probation Accused of Driving Prison Growth, by David Reutter
- Louisiana Supreme Court Springs Prisoner From Death Row
- $1.75 Million Settlement Reached in Washington Jail Suicide, by David Reutter
- Grand Jury Slams Sacramento County for Delaying Jail Improvements Mandated in Consent Decree, by Douglas Ankney
- California Adds Statewide Detention Monitors Overseeing Local Jails
- Kansas DOC Claims Discrimination Against Wiccans Was “Inadvertent”, by Douglas Ankney
- Massachusetts High Court Calls Denial of Prisoner’s Medical Parole without Risk Assessment Arbitrary and Capricious, by Douglas Ankney
- Third Circuit Revives Disabled New Jersey Prisoner’s Claim for Deprivation of Walking Cane, by Douglas Ankney
- Nine Employees Arrested at Troubled South Carolina Jail
- Two Kansas Prison Guards Fired, Six Disciplined for Mocking Injured Prisoner and Refusing Her Help
- Missouri Moms Jailed After Kids Miss Too Much School
- Exceptional Punishments, by Kate Weisburd
- N.J. Prison Guard Sacked Over Mock George Floyd Killing
- Third Circuit Unhappy with Federal Detainee’s Denied Marriage Request at Pennsylvania GEO Group Lockup
- Russian Opposition Leader Dies in Prison
- Oklahoma Jail Withholds Death Records, Fails to Report Five Since 2018, by Matthew Clarke
- $8.5 Million Settlement After Pretrial Detainee Suffocated by Guards and Medical Staff at Virginia Psychiatric Hospital, by David Reutter
- $11.6 Million Settlement Reached in HRDC Debit Release Card Case in Washington; California Victory Remanded
- Georgia Sheriff Resigns After Groping TV Judge’s Breast
- North Carolina Court of Appeals Reinstates Parolee’s Parental Rights, Says Parole Conditions Barred Him from Visiting Minor Daughter, by Matthew Clarke
- Finding Indiana Grievance Process “Unavailable,” Federal Judge Grants Summary Judgment to 22 Prisoners on Same Day
- Alabama Denies Parole to Former Sheriff Convicted of Corruption
- Massachusetts Prisoners Again Stage Hunger Strike Against Solitary Confinement
- Eleventh Circuit Calls Georgia Prisoner’s Dismissed Suit Outside PLRA “Strike Zone”
- $19.3 Million Awarded to Former Illinois Prisoner Repeatedly Sexually Assaulted by Prison Counselor
- Federal Prisoners Released Under First Step Act Show 37% Reduction in Recidivism, by Matthew Clarke
- Missouri Expands Prison Mail Ban to Include Books Sent by Family, Friends
- Washington DOC Outfits Guards with Narcan
- Arizona Supreme Court Reverses Summary Judgment for Corizon Health in State Prisoner’s Death from Untreated Diabetes, by Matthew Clarke
- Class-Action Lawsuit Challenges Use of Presumptive Drug Tests by Washington DOC
- Fifth Circuit Finds Louisiana Prisoner’s Solitary Confinement Not Sufficiently “Atypical” to Violate the Constitution, by David Reutter
- Connecticut DOC Held Liable for Failure to Treat Transgender Prisoner’s Gender Dysphoria, by Douglas Ankney
- Eighth Circuit Affirms Qualified Immunity for Missouri Prison Chief in Sexual Abuse Claims Against Former Guard, by David Reutter
- Ninth Circuit Says Federal Prisoner in California May Have Bivens Claim for Delays in Medical Care Allegedly to Cover Up Assault by BOP Guard
- $2,000 Paid to Former Arkansas Jail Detainees Given Horse Dewormer for COVID-19, by Douglas Ankney
- At BOP California “Rape Club” Prison: Historic Ruling, FBI Raid, Warden Removed
- News in Brief
More from Matthew Clarke:
- Seventh Circuit Grants Qualified Immunity to Detectives Who Revealed Prisoner Was Informant, Denies Him Anonymity, Aug. 1, 2026
- Seventh Circuit Holds Federal Law Prohibits County Jail from Forcing Immigration Detainees to Perform Custodial Labor by Threatening Solitary Confinement, Aug. 1, 2026
- New Mexico Supreme Court Holds Corrections Department Regulations Do Not Exempt Use-Of-Force Documents from Public Records Disclosure, Aug. 1, 2026
- DOJ Issues Memorandum Over BOP Employees Abusing Their Law Enforcement Credentials to Illegally Purchase Personal Firearms, Aug. 1, 2026
- Seventh Circuit Upholds Summary Judgment Against Former Illinois Prison Guards Challenging Termination for Violating Use of Force Policy, Aug. 1, 2026
- Federal Court Issues Preliminary Injunction Barring Enforcement of Executive Order to Transfer Trans Women Prisoners to Men’s Prisons, Aug. 1, 2026
- 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
More from these topics:
- Mississippi DOC Held Mentally Unwell Prisoners in Solitary, Many Died Because of It, Sept. 1, 2026. Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, Staff Training, Deliberate Indifference.
- $800,000 Settlement Reached in Hawai‘i Jail Suicide Case, Sept. 1, 2026. Staffing, Failure to Train/Supervise, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides.
- Isolation and Medical Neglect at Illinois’ Joliet Treatment Center Drive Prisoners to Set Fatal Fires, Sept. 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Security Systems, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).
- Court Shuts Down Arizona Attempt to Fill Medical Staff Vacancies with Under-Qualified Providers, Sept. 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Staffing, Injunctions, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).
- Florida Kills Two Prisoners on Same Day, Both Elderly, Sept. 1, 2026. Statistics/Trends, Death Penalty, Death Row, Lethal Injection Method of Execution.
- Federal Court Upholds Consultants’ Finding that Oklahoma Is Not Honoring Its Consent Decree to Provide Mental Health Treatment, Sept. 1, 2026. Consent Decrees, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Pretrial Detention and Detainees, Competency Hearing, Inadequate Health Care Facilities.
- $4.5 Million Paid by Cook County for Detainee Suicide in Chicago Jail, Aug. 1, 2026. Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, Administrative Detention/Segregation, Deliberate Indifference.
- Death of Seattle Detainee—Jailed Despite Not Being “Grounded in Reality”—Costs King County $3.5 Million Settlement, Aug. 1, 2026. Restraints, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Monell Liability.
- Oregon Agrees to $2.3 Million Settlement After Guards Toss Mentally Ill Prisoner in Solitary, Taunt Him Until He Kills Himself, Aug. 1, 2026. Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Deliberate Indifference.
- $1.2 Million for Elderly Detainee Shoved Out the Door of Sacramento Jail by Guard, Aug. 1, 2026. Guard Brutality/Beatings, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights.

