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Sentencing Case Of Atkins V. Virginia Essay

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When sentencing an offender for a crime, the punishment depends on what the law is attempting to accomplish. The punishment can either be based on incapacitation, retribution, rehabilitation, deterrence, or restorative. Depending on the crime, the punishment can accomplish either one of several of them. However, when it comes to the death penalty it can be quite debatable and there are several criminal cases that came to the United States supreme court due to potential policies being violated that would prevent the offender from getting a proper conviction. One US Supreme Court case that had an issue in sentencing a defendant is Atkins v. Virginia. This case of Atkins v. Virginia (2002) is significant because it had to do with sentencing a defendant to death but was called for an appeal due to the defendant being intellectually disabled. The court case also added that executing individuals who are intellectually disabled is unconstitutional within the eighth amendment that protects against cruel and unusual punishment. When it comes to mental retardation it can have effects on the punishment and corrections system due to the level of their mental competence and how well a defendant who does have disabilities can understand the law. To better understand how mental retardation within the punishment and corrections system can influence the way they work the following should be examined and analyzed. First, the nature of the USSC case must be examined and explain why the supreme

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