United States of America: Missouri executes man despite mental disability

Johnny Johnson was executed in Missouri on 1 August 2023. Long diagnosed with severe mental disabilities, he was sentenced to death for the murder of a six-year-old girl in 2002. The courts allowed the execution to proceed without a hearing on whether he had a rational understanding of the reason for his punishment, which a neuropsychiatrist retained by his lawyers maintained he did not. One state Supreme Court judge, three federal judges and three US Supreme Court Justices dissented against the refusal to block the execution.

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