Radelet M L, Barnard G W
Department of Sociology, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611.
Bull Am Acad Psychiatry Law. 1988;16(4):297-308.
In early 1988 the population on America's death rows climbed above the 2,000 mark for the first time in history. In 1986 the United States Supreme Court firmly stated that the Constitution will have been violated if any of these prisoners is put to death while mentally incompetent for execution. In this article we discuss the case of Gary Alvord, the only inmate to be formally found incompetent for execution in modern times. Interviews with psychiatrists and mental health professionals at the Florida psychiatric hospital where Alvord was treated between 1984 and 1987 reveal much ambivalence and anger about the case. We conclude that, out of respect for the rights of these mental health professionals and the ethical codes of their professions, any prisoner found incompetent for execution should have his or her death sentence commuted to long-term imprisonment before treatment is requested or given.
1988年初，美国死囚人数有史以来首次攀升至2000人以上。1986年，美国最高法院明确表示，如果这些囚犯中有任何一人在精神上无能力接受处决时被处决，即构成违反宪法。在本文中，我们讨论加里·阿尔沃德的案例，他是现代唯一被正式认定无能力接受处决的囚犯。对1984年至1987年期间阿尔沃德接受治疗的佛罗里达精神病院的精神病医生和心理健康专业人员的采访揭示了对该案件的诸多矛盾心理和愤怒情绪。我们得出结论，出于对这些心理健康专业人员权利及其职业伦理准则的尊重，任何被认定无能力接受处决的囚犯在请求或接受治疗之前，其死刑判决应减为长期监禁。
