Disability Death Penalty

Justin Borses
Apr 30, 2022
2 min read

Updated: Oct 18, 2022

NORTHRIDGE, CA- A man with an intellectual disability was executed in Singapore earlier this week. He was found guilty of smuggling 42 grams of heroin into the country in 2010. Subsequently, their justice system handed down the death penalty and he passed by way of hanging.

Malaysian citizen Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam had multiple psychological disorders including ADHD and borderline functioning intelligence. He claims that he was coerced into carrying the package without knowing what was inside.

Outcry from advocacy groups and the public was swift. The United Nations Convention of Rights of Persons with Disabilities prohibits the death penalty against people whose mental state affects their defense. Singapore signed the decree, along with 164 other countries.

Hundreds of protesters crowded the streets for a three-hour vigil and his family had made public pleas to Singapore President Halimah Yacob in December.

His sister, Sarmila Dharmalingam said, “Just give a second chance to my brother to live a life. Everybody makes mistakes. We must give them a chance to realize their mistakes.”

Singapore isn’t the only country that struggles with instituting this measure. The United States Supreme Court issued a ruling in the Atkins vs. Virginia case in 2002. In it, they said the death penalty should no longer apply to people with intellectual disabilities who commit capital offenses. 27 states had to outlaw the measure that they had in place, as it was in clear violation of the Eighth Amendment.

Yet in 2021, Missouri executed Ernest Johnson. A man convicted of killing three people in a 1994 robbery. It was found that he had the mental capacity of a child and could only read at a primary school level. His attorneys referenced the case mentioned above but the state’s top court denied a stay of execution.