Texas executes mildly retarded man
By The Week Staff | August 8, 2012
T
exas executed Marvin Wilson, 54, on Tuesday night, less than two hours after the Supreme Court denied his appeal. Wilson's lawyers argued that he was too mentally impaired to face the death penalty, based on a 2004 test that put his IQ at 61, below the generally accepted minimum of 70, and his second-grade reading and math skills. In 2002, the Supreme Court outlawed the execution of mentally retarded prisoners, but left it up to states to determine what constitutes mental impairment. Wilson was convicted of beating and murdering a police informant, Jerry Williams, in 1992.
MOST READ
MOST SHARED
- A linguistic dissection of 7 annoying teenage sounds
- Stockholm is burning: Why the Swedish riots bode ill for Europe
- How a Ghost Army of American artists helped defeat Hitler
- WATCH: Suspect defends brutal beheading of London man in broad daylight
- 32 TV shows to watch in 2013 [Updated]
- Sadly, you are uglier than you think
- WATCH: Jon Stewart and Bill O'Reilly spar over the Obama scandals
- London's gruesome attack and the rising threat of lone-wolf terrorism
- What we know about the suspects in the gruesome London attack
- The daily gossip: Morgan Freeman fell asleep during an interview, and more
- WATCH: Suspect defends brutal beheading of London man in broad daylight
- A linguistic dissection of 7 annoying teenage sounds
- How a Ghost Army of American artists helped defeat Hitler
- The politics behind Kanye West's 'New Slaves'
- 6 ways credit cards can be good for your finances
- 10 belatedly groundbreaking Vogue covers
- Sadly, you are uglier than you think
- Stockholm is burning: Why the Swedish riots bode ill for Europe
- WATCH: Jon Stewart and Bill O'Reilly spar over the Obama scandals
- Are we on the cusp of a solar energy boom?
