February 9, 2007

Mentally ill and death penalty statistics

Under Senate Bill 24, a mentally ill individual is an individual who, at the time of the offense, had a severe mental disorder or disability that significantly impaired the individual’s capacity to: (1) appreciate the nature, consequences or wrongfulness of the individual’s conduct; (2) exercise rational judgment in relation to the individual’s conduct; or (3) conform the individual’s conduct to the requirements of the law.

In 2005, there were more people in prison at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility with mental illness than there were in the five state mental hospitals combined, according to the National Association of the Mentally Ill (NAMI) of Indiana.

The estimated number of individuals on Death Row in the U.S. who are mentally ill, according to the narrow definition found in Senate Bill 24, is 5-10 percent, according to the Indiana Public Defender Council. However, NAMI Indiana estimates that number to be higher at 25 percent.

A 2002 study by Indiana’s Criminal Law Study Commission found the total cost of Indiana’s death penalty is 38 percent greater than the total cost of life without parole sentences, assuming that 20 percent of death sentences are overturned and resentenced to life.

The average capital case in Indiana costs anywhere from $250,000 to $500,000 or more, according to the Indiana Public Defender Council.

Nationally, Indiana has been one of the most progressive states in death penalty law, preceding the U.S. Supreme Court in two instances.

In 1994, Indiana passed a law prohibiting the use of the death penalty on persons who are mentally retarded.

In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that persons who were mentally retarded could not receive the death penalty. In the same year, Indiana passed a law prohibiting anyone under age 18 from being sentenced to death.

In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court again followed suit by ruling that no one under age 18 could be sentenced to death.

Currently, North Carolina, Washington and California are considering similar legislation to exempt the mentally ill from the death penalty, according to the Indiana Public Defender Council. †

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