death-penaltyIt’s no secret that there is an existing and growing problem within the criminal justice system regarding a failure to address the issue of mental health and how it not only influences crime, but also how it continues to persist once mentally ill individuals are arrested and imprisoned. The criminal justice system’s inability to adequately address these issues and provide assistance to those in need of special care services is worsened by growing prison populations and the influence overcrowding has on the ability to treat mentally ill prisoners.

So, how does the prison system deal with this growing problem? While the answer to this question is obviously a complex one, significant evidence shows the correlation between executions and a failure to deal with mental health in the prison system. On Tuesday, March 22, 2016, the state of Texas executed a man named Adam Kelly Ward (by way of lethal injection), who was convicted in 2007, and subsequently placed on death row, of killing a city worker after Ward suspected the man of spying on him and his father. Ward claimed his actions were done in self-defense after concluding that Commerce officials were both harassing him and conspiring against his family for a prolonged period of time. Ward’s defense attorneys argued and presented evidence of his mental illness, including delusions, paranoia and bipolar disorder. In October, the Supreme Court refused to review his case and on Thursday, March 17 the 5th U.s. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his appeal. Additionally, a clemency petition for Ward was also rejected.

Ward’s execution is just one of nine that took place in 2016 alone and two additional executions are scheduled for this month (you can keep track by going to Marshall Project’s website and viewing their execution track appropriately titled “The Next to Die”). While statistics regarding mental health and capital punishment for 2016 have not yet been compiled, a 2015 year-end report published by The Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice regarding the death penalty in the U.S. showed that, “of the 28 people executed, 75% were mentally impaired or disable, experienced extreme childhood trauma and abuse, or were of questionable guilt.” This statistically high proportion of mentally ill prisoners executed, while concerning, is not surprising. Mental health resources available to the prison population are limited and even when such illness is identified amongst the population, the controlling stigma remains that mental illness is separate from, or does not impact, the crimes one commits or has the potential to commit. While the criminal justice system does not specifically choose to execute mentally ill prisoners, one cannot ignore the apparent correlation between those who suffer from mental health issues and capital punishment.