I'm a lone voice in the wilderness on this, but a grave injustice could happen in less than three hours.
Cecil Clayton is due to be executed at 6:00 p.m. today. Only the U.S. Supreme Court or Missouri Governor Jay Nixon can save this mentally ill man who lost 20% of his frontal lobe in 1972. Clayton is entitled to one last competency hearing to make sure he understands that he's about to die and why. So far, the courts have denied him a stay so he can receive that hearing. Eighth Amendment protections may fail here, leading to what many will view as cruel and unusual punishment.
According to The Atlantic...
Clayton’s lawyers argued that the obvious brain injury and testimony from three psychiatrists who examined him easily meet [a] cursory procedural hurdle.
The Missouri Supreme Court disagreed. The majority’s ruling extensively reviewed Clayton’s legal and medical history, disputed expert psychologists’ credibility, attacked their conclusions about his mental capabilities, and weighed Clayton’s past competency arguments during his trial and sentencing phase. In their petition to the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, Clayton’s lawyers argued “the Missouri Supreme Court…essentially required Clayton to prove his incompetency in order to obtain a hearing on his incompetency.”
The Missouri Supreme Court ruling raises serious questions about the constitutionality of Clayton’s execution. The Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that the Eighth Amendment forbids the execution of persons whose mental illness or intellectual disability prevent them from understanding the consequences of their actions or why they are being put to death. The Court’s rationale for this prohibition was that ending a person’s life for reasons they cannot understand serves “no legitimate penological purpose,” and is therefore cruel and unusual.
We may not be able to stop this potential injustice, but we shouldn't let it slip by us unnoticed. You can read my previous diary—
Countdown to Death: Will anyone save Cecil Clayton?—for more details about the case.
8:13 PM PT: The battle was lost. NBC News reports the Cecil Clayton was executed Tuesday night at 9:21 p.m. CT. May he rest in peace.