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Mentally Retarded Criminal Defendants, James W. Ellis, Ruth A. Luckasson

Faculty Scholarship

This Article attempts to provide a preliminary overview of the issues in the Mental Health Standards as they relate to defendants with mental retardation. Part I reviews the history of the treatment of retarded defendants in the criminal justice system. Part II describes the characteristics of people with mental retardation and the consequences of those characteristics. Part III then discusses the extent to which mental retardation should be exculpatory of criminal responsibility. Part IV analyzes the critical importance of competence issues to mentally retarded defendants. Part V elaborates upon dispositional issues including civil commitment and sentencing. Parts VI and VII …