Georgians
have much to take pride in, including the fact the State was the first in the
nation to prohibit the execution of people with intellectual disability. Sadly,
Georgia may be on the verge of tarnishing this proud reputation by executing
Warren Hill.
Barring
court intervention, Mr. Hill will be executed on Monday, July 15, despite
findings from every single doctor who has examined him that he has ‘mental
retardation’ (the legal term still used). Earlier this year, three doctors who
previously testified for the state that Mr. Hill does not have ‘mental
retardation’ revised their diagnoses. After additional review of the case, and
given both the advancements in understanding of intellectual disability in the
last decade and their own expanded experience working with people with
intellectual disability, the doctors now agree: Mr. Hill meets the criteria for
intellectual disability.
In 1988,
Georgia was the vanguard in rightly recognizing that people with intellectual
disability require protection from the most extreme punishment. Nearly fifteen
years later, in 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court followed suit in Atkins v. Virginia. Mr. Hill has an
undisputed I.Q of 70, and according to every expert who has examined him,
unquestionably fits into the category of people protected from capital
punishment by Atkins. Yet stunningly, a person who is ineligible for the death
penalty is now days away from being executed in Georgia.
In April, a Georgia court ruled that it could not consider the
new doctor findings because of procedural barriers. In fact, no court has ever
considered this critical new information on its merits. With Mr. Hill days away
from execution, it is unconscionable that technicalities are standing in the way
of fair review of the evidence.
In addition to the unanimous doctor diagnoses, Georgia courts
have also repeatedly found that Mr. Hill is intellectually disabled. In 2002,
and again in 2012, a Georgia state court judge affirmed that Mr. Hill is a
person with ‘mental retardation’ – but said that Mr. Hill did not meet
Georgia’s uniquely strict legal standard of proof. Indeed, Georgia is the only state that requires a defendant to
prove mental retardation “beyond a reasonable doubt” – the strictest standard in
the nation.
Mr. Hill’s case has received an extensive and diverse outpouring
of support from mental health experts, intellectual disability organizations,
legal experts, several of the jurors from trial, and even President Jimmy
Carter and Rosalyn Carter. Notably, the family of the victim also does not wish
to see Mr. Hill executed, specifically citing his intellectual disability.
The U.S. Supreme Court now has an opportunity to ensure that the
Atkins ruling is upheld and the
constitutional rights of persons with intellectual disability are respected by
granting a stay of execution to Mr. Hill. It is an opportunity they should
take.