U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Death Penalty Case; Inmate Has Suffered Multiple Strokes & Dementia

One of my well-rounded Contracts students, Andrew Ford, pointed out to me that this week the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of Madison v. Alabama, wherein the issue is whether execution of a prisoner violates the 8th Amendment if the inmate, who has experienced multiple strokes and vascular dementia, is now severely impaired and no longer has any memory of his crime.  From the Petition for Writ of Certiorari:

[T]he State seeks for the second time to execute Vernon Madison, a 67-year-old man who has been on Alabama’s death row for over 30 years. Mr. Madison suffers from vascular dementia as a result of multiple serious strokes in the last two years, and no longer has a memory of the commission of the crime for which he is to be executed. His mind and body are failing: he suffers from encephalomacia (dead brain tissue), small vessel ischemia, speaks in a dysarthric or slurred manner, is legally blind, can no longer walk independently, and has urinary incontinence as a consequence of damage to his brain.

Thank you, Andrew!  Here’s the link to comprehensive coverage on the case from SCOTUS Blog