Rodney Ellis and Joseph Fiorenza

It is wrong to execute the mentally retarded, argue Rodney Ellis and Joseph Fiorenza in the following viewpoint. Since mentally retarded criminals are incapable of understanding the consequences of their actions, they should be exempt from the death penalty. Capital punishment should be reserved only for those who have the intellectual capacity to be morally accountable, the authors maintain. Ellis is a Democratic state senator in Texas. Fiorenza is the bishop of the Catholic diocese of Galveston and Houston, Texas.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What was the 1989 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on mental retardation and capital cases, according to Ellis and Fiorenza"
2. According to a poll cited by the authors, what percentage of Texans opposes the death penalty for the mentally retarded"
3. Why are child murderers...