Global Crisis

Last night, Georgia executed Warren Hill. Hill was clearly intellectually disabled as judged by pretty much every standard, except the ones used by the most bloodthirsty states. It's a gross violation of universal human rights.

Here's a statement from The Arc.

“Georgia’s ability to ignore experts and cross the line drawn by a more than decade-old Supreme Court ruling shakes the foundation of our legal system for people with intellectual disabilities. Just last year, the Supreme Court reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring justice for individuals with intellectual disability, with their ruling in Hall v. Florida, and it is extremely disappointing that following this decision justice did not prevail in Georgia.

“The facts in this case are clear – experts unanimously agreed that Mr. Hill had intellectual disability, yet the appeals at the state and federal levels were ignored. The state’s actions in this case are unconscionable,” said Peter Berns, CEO of The Arc.

It was allowed by the Supreme Court for reasons I can't say I understand (in terms of why it doesn't violate the 2002 Atkins ruling against executing the intellectually disabled), except that SCOTUS is allowing states to define intellectual disability however they please. So Georgia has drawn a severe line and now killed this man.

We are, sometimes, a savage nation.