Commentary: Atkins and clinical practice

The American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law’s Committee on the Developmentally Disabled, founded in 1990, has continually grappled with the inequities faced by persons with mental retardation within the criminal justice system. Not the least of our concerns has been capital sentencing and execution of disabled defendants. Indeed, the Committee cut its teeth on the 1989 Supreme Court decision Penry v. Lynaugh. In that case, Justice O’Connor acknowledged the issue but demurred on the question of a constitutional ban on executing citizens with mental retardation, citing lack of consensus. Since Penry, there has been a massive outpouring of interest, from within state legislatures and from advocacy and human rights groups, about a constitutional ban. With many legislative efforts to deal with the issue, some states—though still fewer than half—have banned the execution of retarded citizens. Now, with the Supreme Court’s decision in Atkins v. Virginia, the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Council on Psychiatry and Law has taken an affirmative step by promulgating its Resource Document prepared by Professor Richard Bonnie. The Resource Document indicates that legislators will need guidance from psychiatrists and other mental health professionals in drafting postAtkins statutes. We heartily agree. MR: What Is It? Who Has It?