Texas prepares to execute man despite recognition of mental illness

• Adam Ward was convicted of the 2005 murder of a code enforcement officer and sentenced to death, now set to become the fifth person executed in Texas in 2016.
• On appeal, the federal district court acknowledged Ward’s documented bipolar disorder and paranoid delusions, which had been recognized and treated off and on since Ward was 3, but argued that it was insufficient to disqualify him from the death penalty.
• Ward’s lawyers have appealed his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, including an argument that the death penalty violates the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Read more:
“Execution Set For Man Courts Recognize as Mentally Ill” (The Texas Tribune)
“Texas Set To Execute Man Amid Claims Of ‘Severe Mental Illness’” (BuzzFeed News)
“Texas to execute Adam Ward unless Supreme Court intervenes” (AP via AL.com)

(Image Credit: tdcj.state.tx.us, via BuzzFeed News)