A Supreme Court decision in Atkins v. Virginia declared it unconstitutional to execute a mentally retarded person. So this guy couldn't have been executed after that decision. But it does show that Virginia has a history of doing this. I think the argument was that people with mental retardation can still premeditatedly murder someone, and still know that it's wrong, so they should still be executed like anyone else.
Scalia's dissent in this case was so insane and snarky that it inspired this icon. It included arguments like "everyone knows that retarded people are typically happy, gentle folks. Therefore, their being retarded is not what caused or predisposed them to kill someone. So those that commit crimes are just as culpable as anyone else."
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A Supreme Court decision in Atkins v. Virginia declared it unconstitutional to execute a mentally retarded person. So this guy couldn't have been executed after that decision. But it does show that Virginia has a history of doing this. I think the argument was that people with mental retardation can still premeditatedly murder someone, and still know that it's wrong, so they should still be executed like anyone else.
Scalia's dissent in this case was so insane and snarky that it inspired this icon. It included arguments like "everyone knows that retarded people are typically happy, gentle folks. Therefore, their being retarded is not what caused or predisposed them to kill someone. So those that commit crimes are just as culpable as anyone else."
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