Shin Helen
Fordham Law Rev. 2007 Oct;76(1):465-516.
In recent years, the U.S. Supreme Court has created two categorical exemptions to the death penalty. In Atkins v. Virginia, the Court exempted mentally retarded offenders. Three years later, in Roper v. Simmons, the Court extended the protection to juveniles. Based on these cases, the practices of foreign countries, and the opinions of professional organizations with relevant expertise, legal scholars speculate that the Court may, in the future, categorically exclude severely mentally ill offenders from the death penalty. This Note examines the feasibility of such an exemption for the mentally ill and considers its possible repercussions.
近年来，美国最高法院创设了两项死刑绝对豁免情形。在“阿特金斯诉弗吉尼亚州案”中，最高法院豁免了智障罪犯。三年后，在“罗珀诉西蒙斯案”中，最高法院将这种保护扩大到了青少年。基于这些案例、外国的做法以及具有相关专业知识的专业组织的意见，法律学者推测，最高法院未来可能会绝对排除患有严重精神疾病的罪犯适用死刑。本评论探讨了对精神病患者给予这种豁免的可行性，并考虑了其可能产生的影响。
