Andre Thomas: Questions of Competence
This is Part Six in a six-part series exploring the intersections of the mental health and criminal justice systems in Texas. It examines the case of Andre Thomas, a death row inmate who began exhibiting signs of mental illness as a boy and committed a brutal triple murder in 2004. Blind because he pulled out both of his eyes while behind bars, Thomas awaits a federal court's decision on whether he is sane enough to be executed.
SHERMAN, Texas — On Feb. 15, 2005, nearly a year after Andre Thomas committed a brutal triple murder that rocked this North Texas ...
Comments (7)
Joseph Osborne via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Of course not......
Richard S. Moore via Texas Tribune on Facebook
I don't know how you can get around the 8th amendment which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment and still execute the mentally ill. What exactly would it accomplish other than making the executor look like the real "bad guy”?
Sonora Hartley via Texas Tribune on Facebook
I don't view state sanctioned execution as cruel and it's definitely not unusual. We say we give an execution exemption to the mentally ill and 'retarded' because they can't understand why they are to be executed but how is it that we accept that they understand and comprehend why they are locked in a cage, forced or not to take medication? Probably many victims of murder didn't understand why either at their death. If we want capital punishment it should be applied across the board or we should stop it.
Matthew Cowan via Texas Tribune on Facebook
He killed three people. He is a danger to society. The Death Penalty is a punishment and a deterrent. It punishes the criminal and is a deterrent because he is not longer a threat to society. It also protects society by not having him to deal with him while he is incarcerated and drains resources that can be applied to those who the state has deemed redeemable.
Richard Moore, the death penalty only makes the executioner look like the real bad guy if you misplace your sympathies with the criminal.
Richard S. Moore via Texas Tribune on Facebook
So here is the question:
Do you think mentally ill defendants should be exempt from the death penalty?
Here is what the correctional health industry believes:
“The United State Supreme Court has upheld the principle observed in the separate states that a mentally incompetent inmate should not be executed, and has further said that archaic means of making such determinations should be corrected. The court has not, however, delineated guidelines.”
http://www.ncchc.org/competency-for-execution
And I agree with that position.
Matthew Cowan via Texas Tribune on Facebook
No they should not be exempt because not all mental illnesses are the same. Also again, you miss the point of what the purpose of the criminal justices system. It is about holding those who commit a crime responsible and protection of the public. Once adjuacated it is not about the defendant and their issues. It is about what is the appropriate punishment and what best protects the public from further offenses. Is the public being best served by force medicating a person? Why should the public be victimized twice, once by the crime and then again by the cost of treatment and incarceration?
Cheryl Gonzales
He did not pluck out his eye and eat it to avoid the death penalty. I swear, Texans are so childlike and ignorant. He is insane. He killed because he is insane. he was insane as a boy. It would show us barbaric to put him to death. Now we have to warehouse him until he dies a natural death. Case closed.