Court Blocks Texas Efforts To Execute Mentally Ill Inmate Scott Panetti
Scott Panetti, diagnosed with schizophrenia, has been spared death after an appellate court intervened in his case.
The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case of a Texas death row inmate with schizophrenia back to district court in a sharp opinion Tuesday. The lower court will have to take another look at whether Scott Panetti’s mental illness makes him ineligible for execution.
Panetti’s case is well known in Texas. He is often the poster child for advocates who argue against the death penalty for the mentally ill.
