In Johnny’s case, his attorney is claiming Johnny’s death sentence is cruel and unusual punishment, and wants a new ruling which helps establish Johnny’s class of people an exemption from the death penalty. Utilizing Atkins as precedent, there is a need for empirical evidence in order to support Johnny’s claim. Atkins utilized empirical evidence pertaining to: the number of states whose laws permit such individuals to be executed, the trend of the issue, poll data of the issue, and the amount of actual executions for this class of person.
This ultimately begs the question, how would the Court respond to the claim that Atkins should be extended to persons who “had severe mental problems but were not legally insane and had an IQ over 70”? The …show more content…
There is clear evidence that Johnny cannot distinguish from right and wrong, even though it was argued that he was capable since he did not meet the state’s definition of legal insanity. For example, Johnny would reference himself as a “patriot”, at times would criticize people for not being patriot enough, in ways that generally made no sense. Then, when he saw protestors setting a flag on fire, he incoherently screamed, and ended up killing that man and a woman to his left. As he was being pulled away, he was screaming, “death to our alien overlords!” It is apparent that Johnny, who genuinely believed he is a patriot, clearly killed two people did not understand right from wrong. This can be further argued since he was screaming, “death to our alien overlords!” In a clear mental frenzy, Johnny was merely attempting to express his patriotism by defending the flag. Whether those actions may seem unjustifiable and wrong, for Johnny it may have seemed justifiable and right. This misunderstanding of patriotism for the normal person can be seen when he would criticize his customers as not being sufficiently patriotic, even though no one else understood what he meant. The local prosecutor claims he wants “the right message” to be sent with Johnny’s death. However, this would make no sense, considering the average human would never have the same mental capacity as Johnny. Johnny’s prior behavior and actions also contribute to the fact that Johnny would not fully appreciate his crimes, given his significant mental problems. With all of this in mind, the Court would most likely agree to extend Atkins to Johnny’s legally sane, but severe mental
This ultimately begs the question, how would the Court respond to the claim that Atkins should be extended to persons who “had severe mental problems but were not legally insane and had an IQ over 70”? The …show more content…
There is clear evidence that Johnny cannot distinguish from right and wrong, even though it was argued that he was capable since he did not meet the state’s definition of legal insanity. For example, Johnny would reference himself as a “patriot”, at times would criticize people for not being patriot enough, in ways that generally made no sense. Then, when he saw protestors setting a flag on fire, he incoherently screamed, and ended up killing that man and a woman to his left. As he was being pulled away, he was screaming, “death to our alien overlords!” It is apparent that Johnny, who genuinely believed he is a patriot, clearly killed two people did not understand right from wrong. This can be further argued since he was screaming, “death to our alien overlords!” In a clear mental frenzy, Johnny was merely attempting to express his patriotism by defending the flag. Whether those actions may seem unjustifiable and wrong, for Johnny it may have seemed justifiable and right. This misunderstanding of patriotism for the normal person can be seen when he would criticize his customers as not being sufficiently patriotic, even though no one else understood what he meant. The local prosecutor claims he wants “the right message” to be sent with Johnny’s death. However, this would make no sense, considering the average human would never have the same mental capacity as Johnny. Johnny’s prior behavior and actions also contribute to the fact that Johnny would not fully appreciate his crimes, given his significant mental problems. With all of this in mind, the Court would most likely agree to extend Atkins to Johnny’s legally sane, but severe mental