Essay on Medicine and Law

In Texas, a man with schizophrenia was executed (Kelsey Patterson) even after the Board of Pardons and Paroles recommended clemency after learning of his time spent in mental hospitals and his unintelligible rambling.

Medical practitioners traditionally do not inject the criminal with the cocktail used in lethal injections. They are typically done by others outside the medical profession, which could potentially lead to botched

Debate over capital punishment is nothing new, but it reaches a whole new level when the accused is mentally ill. The question then becomes… was the perpetrator aware of his heinous actions by knowing right from wrong at the time of the crime or was the mental illness controlling his actions? While being sympathetic to the grief and heart break of the victim’s loved ones, I believe that execution for the mentally ill should not be allowed, because often their illness makes them incapable of knowing right and wrong of their actions. Many of those with mental illnesses often go undiagnosed and untreated, either by choice or by financial circumstances, because of the stigma and general lack of understanding associated with this type of diagnosis in our society.

As we know today that Charles Laverne Singleton was executed by a lethal injection on January 6, 2004 for the murder of Mary Lou York (19 years old) while robbing Mary’s grocery store. According to the records available, Mr. Singleton was diagnosed with mental disorder such as schizophrenia/psychosis after he was arrested. In 1986, US Supreme Court made the decision that the execution of the insane is against the law and constitution under Ford vs. Wainwright. After wards Mr. Singleton was set up for multiple dates for execution, but the dates were appealed according to 1990 U.S. Supreme Court decision under Washington vs. Harper. So it made Mr. Singleton to be treated involuntarily to make him stable because he was danger to himself and others.

There are laws and decisions of United States government and higher orders that present controversy to the people of America. In the state of Texas the application of the death penalty is difficult to interpret, especially for the mentally ill, because there is no written law or bill that explains the execution implication in complete detail. The death penalty is a capital punishment of death for those who have committed such high crime. This penalty goes for everyone who does such act no matter who you are, how rich how poor, or where you stand in society. For the longest time, even with the mindset and understanding that those who commit crime to a certain level can receive the execution punishment, the concern and debate whether the mentally

On Jan. 6, 2004, the state of Arkansas executed Charles Singleton by lethal injection. His death was overlooked by

Before convicts are executed, it is a requirement by the law that they be treated to ensure that they are not only physically fit but also healthy. I am convinced that all types of prescription are ought to cure people, not readying them to experience death through statutory execution, whether one is on death row or not. It is the duty of every doctor under the law to ensure that each convict is healthy before the government can deprive his or her life. The law is unethical since it does not recognize that the duties of physicians are to render support to the people, save individuals’ lives as well as help individuals enhance the standard of their lives. When physicians graduate from their processional training, they vow on oath to assist in

Charles Singleton’s execution is unjust because he was mentally ill. Justice Powel, associate justice, states, ” The Eighth Amendment forbids the execution only of those who are unaware of the punishment they are about to suffer and why they are to suffer it” (https://www.aclu.org/mental-illness-and-death-penalty). Charles Singleton was a schizophrenic, a disorder that shows atypical social behavior and not knowing what is real. The U.S. Supreme Court also confirmed that it is unconstitutional to kill someone who's mental capabilities are not within normal standards (n.d.). NAMI. Charles Singleton’s execution is unjust as he was insane but medicated to be sane. He was forced to take antipsychotic medications initially so he would not harm other

In continuation, Lithwick compels readers with logical facts about Arkansas’s procedures to put eight men to death in less than two weeks. She wants readers to focus on not just the issue of the death penalty, but how the act is conducted. She then explains the given reasoning behind the executions being rushed. A quote from Arkansas’s governor, Asa Hutchinson, says, “The state needs to kill these prisoners before the end of April because one of the three drugs in the lethal injection ‘cocktail’ expires at that time…” (2). Lithwick mentions this quote to make readers aware of the reasoning behind the rushed deaths. Also, Lithwick mentions a past Supreme Court case that pertains to the lethal injection drugs and facts about other states’ poorly performed executions she found from Justice Sonia Sotomayor. She says, “She notes that since 1997, no state has attempted this many executions at this pace. She includes the testimony of prison workers

Hari, 218 Ill 2d. 275 (2006). The charges, in this case, was attempted murder of his wife, and the murder of her lover. He was sentenced to prison for 48 years for murder and an additional 25 years for the attempt. The case was appealed due to the defendant’s involuntarily intoxication. The defendant had been taking an antidepressant and mixed it with Tylenol PM. The defendant claimed to be in a confused state. It was like he was there, but not there. The defendant had a psych evaluation, thought the doctor claimed that he had many problems, he was sane. According to the Supreme Court, there was evidence that the defendant was involuntarily intoxicated to do the mixed drugs Zoloft and Tylenol, last of sleep and his previous alcohol dependency. The jury didn’t know that the defendant had to be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. This case was sent back to the circuit court for a new

Charles Laverne Singleton was executed on January 6, 2004, killed at the Arkansas for the murder of 19-year-old Mary Lou York on June 1, 1979. Reports show that after his sentence and incarceration, Mr. Singleton enter into the unstable mental illness schizophrenia/psychosis. Although 1986 U.S. Supreme Court judgment, Ford vs. Wainwright gives that the killing of the crazy person is illegal, Mr. Singleton was executed twenty-four-and-a-half years after at the age of 44 for the punishable murder of Ms. York. Preceding his death, he had four previous execution dates, all of which were requested, mostly below 1990 U.S. Supreme Court conclusion Washington vs. Harper, which lets state authorities to give a prison inmate who has a harsh mental illness

“When it comes to healthcare, ‘bad people’ are as equal as the rest of us” (646). When someone is sentenced to execution it is decided by the criminal justice system, not the medical community. The justice system views these peoples’ social worth as so low that they deserve to die for the crimes they have committed. “The

Mr. Charles Laverne Singleton known as the “convicted murder” in a Arkansas prison was immediately put onto the death row after murdering Mary Lou York; an Hamburg store owner on June 1, 1979. After being incarcerated for some time many started to notice that Singleton had a sufficient amount of problems going on in his life. One the biggest issues that made his murder case very significant to this day is suffering from a disorder known as “Schizophrenia” while being on the death row list. There were lots of reports stating that Singleton was being forced by correctional officers in the Arkansas prison to take antipsychotic drugs to make him sane enough to execute. The case became so important that the matter had to be placed into the U.S. Supreme Court hands to be handled further. During, the year of 1986 Supreme Court decided that the decision of the execution style on this young man was unconstitutional due to him being mentally insane. The argument provided in Mr. Singleton case has compelled many emotions within many individuals such as myself; to decide on the decision of whether singleton should receive the execution or not.

Prescribing and dispensing such drugs would be illegal. The ruling was later taken in front of the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals and they denied Ashcroft’s request. Ashcroft later appealed to the US Supreme Court; on January 17, 2006 the Supreme Court upholds the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision and Oregon’s law remains in effect. (Death with Dignity Act, 2007)

Legally a mentally unfit person who is awaiting execution in today’s penal system does not have the right to refuse psychiatric treatment (drugs) that would restore their competency. In todays society we as free Americans share certain liberties, such as the right to pick and choose our physicians, course of treatment and on the other hand the refusal of those same treatments. The state must be able to restore competency to an incompetent defendant so that he may stand trial or be executed; if not the prisoner would remain in the system indefinitely (Swedlow, n.d.). Ethically, if it’s possible to restore their competency for the defendant to stand trial, I would be in support of this. As far as execution if the defendant has been through the legal system, sentenced to death and the appeal process has progressed to its limit, do we really want to medicate someone for a period of time just so they will understand their impending death? Ethically it seems that the punishment has been accessed and should be carried out.