MISSOURI: NO ESECUZIONE RITARDATI

Governatore firma nuova legge NEW YORK - Lo stato di Missouri � diventato il 16.mo stato d'America a mettere al bando l'esecuzione di un minorato mentale. Il governatore ha firmato la relativa legge ieri. Bench� la legge non sia retroattiva, e quindi formalmente non risparmia nessuno delle 74 persone attualmente detenute nel braccio della morte, Holden si � impegnato a considerare di commutare la pena di morte in ergastolo per un condannato ritardato.

   Monday July 2

Mo. Bans Retarded Inmate Executions

 By DAVID A. LIEB,  JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Gov. Bob Holden on Monday signed into law a bill that made Missouri the 16th state to ban the execution of mentally retarded inmates. Missouri's law does not spare any of the 74 people currently on death row, nor those who commit murders before the law takes effect on Aug. 28. But Holden said he would consider reducing a sentence to life in prison for any current inmate who meets the law's definition of mentally retarded.

The bill defines mentally retarded people as having ``substantial limitations'' and ``significantly subaverage'' intelligence that harms their ability to communicate, work or take care of themselves.

It does not specify an IQ. To be spared the death penalty, an inmate must be diagnosed as retarded before the age of 18. ``This bill sets a strict standard for defining mental retardation that could never be used inappropriately for a defense strategy,'' Holden said. ``Only those with the most profound mental difficulties are exempted from the death penalty under this measure.

'' Attempts to pass similar laws had failed for a decade in Missouri but were successful this year because of the more precise language used in the definition. Missouri is the first state to enact the ban since Texas Gov. Rick Perry vetoed a similar bill June 17.

 He said he vetoed the bill because he wanted juries to continue deciding whether a person is mentally retarded. Perry said the bill would have given judges the power to overturn a jury's decision.

The U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) is expected to rule this fall on a North Carolina case that could outlaw executions of retarded killers.

The Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, D.C., said Missouri has executed two prisoners - Ricky Grubbs in 1992 and Reginald Powell in 1998 - for whom tests indicated possible mental retardation.