Supreme Court: Death Penalty and the Retarded NPR's Nina Totenberg reports that the Supreme Court has reversed a previous ruling and declared it unconstitutional to execute a mentally retarded person. The court had ruled in 1989 that there was no national consensus that executing the retarded was cruel and unusual punishment. Now the court has ruled 6-3 that there is such a consensus. Eighteen states currently prohibit executing the retarded, and the majority opinion notes a consistent trend in that direction.

Supreme Court: Death Penalty and the Retarded

June 20, 200212:00 AM ET

Heard on All Things Considered

Supreme Court: Death Penalty and the Retarded

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NPR's Nina Totenberg reports that the Supreme Court has reversed a previous ruling and declared it unconstitutional to execute a mentally retarded person. The court had ruled in 1989 that there was no national consensus that executing the retarded was cruel and unusual punishment. Now the court has ruled 6-3 that there is such a consensus. Eighteen states currently prohibit executing the retarded, and the majority opinion notes a consistent trend in that direction.