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Competency to be executed: A therapeutic jurisprudence perspective
Author(s) -
Winick Bruce J.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
behavioral sciences and the law
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.649
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1099-0798
pISSN - 0735-3936
DOI - 10.1002/bsl.2370100304
Subject(s) - wainwright , supreme court , jurisprudence , context (archaeology) , statutory law , perspective (graphical) , therapeutic jurisprudence , process (computing) , safeguarding , due process , law , computer science , psychology , political science , medicine , common law , psychotherapist , mental health , artificial intelligence , nursing , programming language , paleontology , municipal law , biology
This Article analyzes the concept of competency to be executed. It examines the Supreme Court's 1986 decision in Ford v. Wainwright , discussing both its Eighth Amendment and procedural due process determinations. It then considers the standard that should be applied in determining competency in this context and the procedures that the states should utilize to insure a fair determination consistent with due process. The article then considers the perplexing problem of whether an incompetent death row prisoner may assert a constitutional or statutory right to refuse treatment designed to restore him to competency for execution, examining both the constitutional and therapeutic implications of involuntary treatment in this context.