Religion & Law

Here's a post, at America, about the execution by Virginia of Teresa Lewis.  I note that Ms. Lewis was represented, at the end, by my former law-practice colleague (and Notre Dame graduate), Jim Rocap.

In some of the commentary I've read about the case, the fact that Ms. Lewis is a woman has been highlighted.  This fact, it seems to me, is not one that can or should be relevant to the question whether someone who has been duly convicted of a capital crime should be executed.  There is also, as the America post mentions, the question of Ms. Lewis's mental capacities.  It seems to me that these capacities are certaily relevant to the question whether a death-sentence can be justifed, though one has to concede, I think, that any efforts to find a clear "line" -- especially a clear point on the IQ scale -- separating those whose capacities are such that they can deserve execution and those who capacities are not are likely to fail.