The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, which, according to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Ford v. Wainwright (1986), includes the execution of the insane. Thus, it is unconstitutional to execute condemned inmates who become incompetent while on death row while they remain in an incompetent state. [Source: Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law; Competency for Execution]
forensic assessment in civil and criminal cases
criminal competencies
capital punishment
competency for execution
concepts