Man with Intellectual Disability (mental retardation) To Be Executed in Georgia July 15 Unless SCOTUS Steps In
MEDIA ADVISORY -- July 9, 2013
Man with Intellectual Disability mental retardation) To Be Executed in Georgia July 15 Unless SCOTUS Steps In
Warren Lee Hill Should Not Be Executed!
WHAT: Most of us are blessed to know a person with intellectual disabilities ("ID," formerly termed "mental retardation") in our own families, churches, schools, neighborhoods and workplaces. Therefore most of us understand that people with intellectual disabilities have special needs and deserve the special protection they receive under the law.
Nonetheless, on July 15 at 7 pm the State of Georgia plans to execute Warren Lee Hill, an intellectually disabled man who should be entitled to this protection, unless the Supreme Court steps in. Hill's lawyers asked the court in May to reconsider in light of new evidence, but SCOTUS has not yet responded.
Execution of a person with mental retardation or ID is prohibited under state law, yet Georgia is the only state that holds the highest burden of proof - Hill's lawyers must "prove beyond a reasonable doubt" that he has an intellectual disability. Despite new evidence, this burden of proof makes it virtually impossible to save this man's life and commute his sentence to life in prison without parole.
WHY: The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is a federally funded independent state agency which works to bring about social and policy changes that promote opportunities for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families to live, learn, work, play and worship in Georgia communities. A developmental disability is a chronic mental and/or physical disability that occurs before age 22 and is expected to last a lifetime.
WHO: GCDD - Eric E. Jacobson, Executive Director
AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS - Contact Valerie Meadows Suber to schedule
Jacobson's previously published opinion articles:
- http://www.dailyreportonline.com/PubArticleDRO.jsp?id=1202562308134&thepage=1&slreturn=20130609115819 (July 10, 2012) (This link is no longer active.)
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-jacobson/warren-hill-execution_b_2665094.html (February 11, 2013)
Visit www.gcdd.org "News & Media" for more information.
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