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Atkins v. Virginia


             The association that Dr. Nelson belonged to is known as The American Psychiatric Association. This organization defines "mental retardation" as "subaverage general intellectual functioning that is accompanied by significant limitations in adaptive functioning." The APA also states that mild retardation is most commonly diagnosed with people in the approximate 53 to 70 IQ point range. Similarly, The American Association of Mental Retardation defines mental retardation as "substantial limitations in present functioning". These two organizations also define mental retardation as restrictions in skill areas such as health and safety, social skills, leisure, and work. .
             Prior to Atkins being sentenced to death, the State of Virginia ordered a second sentencing. In this sentencing, Dr. Nelson testified again, and continued on his theory that the perpetrator was in fact, although mildly, mentally retarded. Virginia brought Dr. Stanton Samehow to the stand in defense of Dr. Nelson's handicap theory. Dr. Samehow testified his opinion that Atkins was not mentally retarded, but more or less of "average intelligence, at least". Dr. Samehow based his opinion on two specific interviews. Also, Dr. Samehow accessed Atkins" school records. In lieu of administering the intelligence test that Dr. Nelson gave Atkins, Dr. Samehow asked questions from an earlier version of a similar test in both of his interviews with the accused. .
             The Supreme Court sentenced Daryl Renard Atkins to the death penalty after this second sentencing hearing. Atkins' attorneys claimed that because of his alleged mental disability it would be unjust to have their client put to death. However, The Supreme Court of Virginia rebutted by saying that they would not reduce his sentence to life in prison simply because of his poor IQ score. .
             Justice Hassell and Justice Koontz disagreed with this decision. They completely discarded Dr.


Essays Related to Atkins v. Virginia

1. Is Executing The Mentally Retarded Unconstitutional?

... 59 was convicted of murdering Eric Nesbitt, a 21-year-old man who worked as an airman for the U.S. air force based in Virginia. (Gibeaut 2002) Atkins kidnapped Eric Nesbitt from a local 7-11 store, took him to an ATM and forced him to withdraw money so that he could use ... it to purchase beer. After Atkins obtained the man's money he proceeded to shoot the man 8 times and killed him. (Josefson 2002) Prior to this Atkins had 16 convictions. In response to the Atkins V. Virginia trial, The U.S. Supreme court ruled 6-3 on June 20, 2002 that ... . Out of these states eighteen of them exempt...

  • Word Count: 1655
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Death Penalty

... the Supreme Court of the United States handed down a monumental decision in Atkins vs. Virginia, declaring in a six to three decision, that it is unconstitutional for any state to utilize the death penalty on mentally retarded offenders, sparing Daryl Renard Atkins life. In the following days the Supreme Court also made another historical ... way of conflict theory rather than that of the past which consisted of an order perspective. In the case heard by the Supreme Court, Daryl Renard Atkins was accused of going into a convenience store with a hidden handgun and began to ask people for ...

  • Word Count: 1505
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

3. charles manson

... . Kathleen Maddox, a 16-year-old prostitute was Charlie's mother. Kathleen and her brother were sentenced to five years in prison for robbing a West Virginia gas station. Charlie was sent off to live with a religious aunt and her husband, who always made fun of Charlie calling him a "sissy," ... desert dune buggy routes. Arson investigators traced the evidence back to Charlie , and he was arrested again on October 12. A day later, Susan Atkins was picked up in Ontario, California, and she soon gave details of the Tate-LaBianca murders to cellmates in Los Angeles. Indictments followed, bu...

  • Word Count: 1814
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Charles Manson

... naturally, he was getting very good at it with twenty years of experience under his belt. When he left the school, Manson moved to West Virginia where he met a girl named Rosalie Jean Willis. The two were soon married and Rosalie became pregnant shortly thereafter. This was the first time that ... the house to Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski. Manson was obviously not too concerned with this fact because he sent Patricia Krenwinkel, Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, and Linda Kasabian to the house to kill everyone. On August 8, 1969, Manson tells his followers that it is time for Helter Skelter. ...

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5. Charles Manson

... School for Boys on October 24, 1951. On January 18, 1952, he was sentenced to four years, eight months at a Federal Reformatory in Petersburg, Virginia, for juvenile delinquency. On September 22, 1952, he was transferred to the Federal Institution at Chillicothe, Ohio. Mason knew that what he was doing ... arrests ranged from Grand Theft Auto, to fraudulent checks, to Murder in the First Degree. After his release in 1954 he went to West Virginia and not before long he married Rosalie Jean Willis. She became pregnant and Charles started stealing cars. By the time the baby was born he ......

  • Word Count: 2782
  • Approx Pages: 11
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6. Death Penalty

... -2001 Texas 17 Napoleon Beazley 5-28-2002 Texas 17 T.J. Jones 8-8-2002 Texas 17 Toronto Patterson 8-28-2002 Texas 17 You can see the dominance of juvenile executions in Texas and Virginia. The periods on death row awaiting execution for these executed juvenile offenders ranged from5 years to over 20 years, resulting in the age at execution ranging from 23 to38 (Victor ... the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution does not prohibit the death penalty for crimes committed at ages 16 or 17 regardless of state statutory provisions. ∙ In Atkins v. Virginia, 122 S.Ct. 2242 (Ju...

  • Word Count: 2534
  • Approx Pages: 10
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

7. History Of Captial Punishment

... today. Now onto the U.S.A. The first execution, not legal but first, happened in 1608 with the killing of George Kendall. In 1612 Divine, Moral, and Martial law was established by Virginia's Governor. This made the death penalty punishable to such crimes as stealing, killing animals, or the trade of Indians. These laws were later reconsidered due to the lack of inhabitants ... who want to challenge or question its effectiveness. The first reforms came in 1776 when Thomas Jefferson and some fellow colleagues, with authority from the Government, proposed a revision of current Virginia law...

  • Word Count: 3139
  • Approx Pages: 13
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  • Grade Level: High School

8. The Death Penalty Controversy

... , Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming. Of these states, Texas has had the highest number of inmates executed. As of December 31, 2011 there were 58 women on death row. In the past ... Court in Roper v. Simmons struck down the death penalty for juveniles. 22 defendants had been executed for crimes committed as juveniles since 197...

  • Word Count: 1875
  • Approx Pages: 8
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9. Capital Punishment

... was actually Britain who was the main influence towards America instituting the use of the death penalty. The first recorded execution in the new colonies was Captain George Kendall in Virginia in 1608 for the crime of stealing (http://teacher.deathpenaltyinfo.msu.edu/). Laws about the death penalty varied from colony to colony. Little is known about the system of capital ... mental illness who have been executed in the U.S. in violation of international law include: Pernell Ford- Alabama, Bert Hunter- Missouri, and Juan Soria -Texas. (The Death Penalty Pg.35) In Atkins v. Virginia, 200...

  • Word Count: 2714
  • Approx Pages: 11
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

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