Since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated, thirty-four mentally disabled prisoners have been executed in the United States.
By Leroy Moore
Tuesday, May 15, 2001;
From Poor Magazine Column: Illin-N-Chillin
In the Spring of 1916 Jesse Washington, a Black mentally disabled young adult, was snatched out of court and dragged through the streets of Waco, Texas. He was then stabbed, mutilated and finally burned while 10,000 men, women and children cheered. What happened to Jesse Washington is not an isolated case and we can't chalk it up as history because we are still healing from the 1998 dragging and killing of a Black disabled man, also in Texas, named James Byrd. Since the dawning of day individuals with disabilities, especially disabled people of color who are poor, like other minorities have had to and still are fighting to stay alive.
People with disabilities are not excluded from the brutal history this country has played out and that follows us to the present day. However the history, stories and cases of systematic discrimination and harsh brutality from individuals, institutions and the state against people with disabilities has been glossed over until very recently. The state has played and still is playing a big role in the physiological, mental and physical abuse towards people with disabilities, especially disabled people of color. From the days of Slavery, the Eugenics Movement, Institutionalizing to deinstitutionalizing and now today with the US Supreme Court looking at the question around executions by the state against prisoners who are mentally disabled. All of the above examples have one key component and that is the legal foundation of the state. When the state institutions have the legal platform to end a person's life or help create an environment that leads to brutality, it makes it harder for individuals to fight because it is institutionalized.
Since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated, thirty-four mentally disabled prisoners have been executed in the United States. And from the website of LOST SOULS STOP KILLING MENTALLY RETARDED, www.geocities.com, many of the prisoners were and are people of color. Since the state of Georgia mistakenly executed Jerome Bowden, a Black mentally disabled prisoner, the state has issued a ban on executions of the mentally disabled. Because of this case the campaign has gained momentum with the support of the American Bar Association. Now Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee and Washington have also banned the practice.
Even Florida's own Attorney General Bob Butterworth, who has been one of Gov. Jeb Bush's strongest advocates for speedier executions, supported the bill sparing persons with mental retardation from capital punishment. However the bill did not pass and now Florida is the next state where the campaign of ending execution of mentally disabled prisoners is targeted.
As a researcher and writer on race and disability, I have noticed the concepts of race, sex, disability and class have not entered into the executions of people who are mentally disabled. Cases like Anthony Porter and Earl Washington, both Black men who are mentally disabled and poor. Both were on Death Row for crimes they didn't commit but confessed to because of their inability to understand what they were confessing. Both men were cleared by DNA testing and other evidence that was buried in their first hearing. Anthony Porter served seventeen years and Earl Washington had to wait until the beginning of this year to be released from custody. Many advocates are working on this issue but I don't see disabled, race and class advocates and organizations coming together with one voice on the execution of people who are of color, poor and have a mental disability.
"Crimes against people with development disabilities i.e. mental disabilities have reached epidemic proportions. Although it is similar to elder abuse, child abuse, and domestic violence, it remains largely invisible and unaddressed." This statement comes from a report entitled, An Epidemic of Violence: A Collective Challenge by Daniel D. Sorensen who works at the California Victims of Crimes Committee which sponsored the federal Crime Victims with Disabilities Awareness Act. The Act requires the National Crime Survey to begin collecting data on crime against people with disabilities. It also requires the U.S. Attorney to issue a report on crime and violence against people with disabilities. Lastly, this committee helped convince Governor Gray Davis to establish the Crime Victims with Disabilities Initiative. This is the first permanent state government program that addresses the issue of crime against people with disabilities. Although the above accomplishments are helping to get the issue of crimes against people with disabilities out there in the public, it is a taboo subject for many in the disabled community and in the general public.
Is there justice in the U.S. Justice System for people with physical and mental disabilities? Many studies has found that individuals with disabilities especially people with mental disabilities who become involved in the criminal justice system are more likely to face injustice if the system does not consider their disabilities and capabilities. According to www.geocities.com's Stop Killing Mentally Retarded website, most attorneys, judges, law enforcement officers and juries lack knowledge and skills necessary to ensure that people with mental disabilities obtain equal justice. It goes on to say that appropriate investigations and expert testimonies are costly. The fact is that individuals with mental disability lack resources and income to get a fair trial. A good example of how money can shape justice in the criminal justice system is Wanda Jean Allen, a poor disabled Black lesbian of Oklahoma who was executed in January for the murder of her lover.
Allen's family approached Bob Carpenter to handle the case. Mr. Carpenter believed that the case was not a capital case so he agreed to represent Wanda for . The Allen's family gave an initial payment of .00. However the state charged Wanda with first degree murder and announced it would seek the death penalty, refusing Mr. Carpenter's request to drop the case. So in the end Wanda was left with an attorney who had never tried a capital murder case before and had a lack of resources to investigate her mental disability and other key elements in the case. Matter-of-fact Mr. Carpenter was quoted in the Associated Press and in the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty website that he learned about Allen's disability after the case. Although Wanda did kill her lover, did the justice system kill Wanda because her family's economic status instantly created an obstacle to receiving equal justice? Up to her execution, Wanda maintained she shot her lover in self-defense, but the scar on her face from her lover's assault and the weapon that made that scare were not included as evidence of self-defense in her case.
The same is true for Michael Manning, a Black disabled young man who is fighting for his life in a criminal justice system of Pennsylvania in a self-defense case that I found on-line at http://michealmanning.homestead.com. For the last three months, I've been e-mailing Michael's parents to get his story. Their e-mail is mannfam@pnpa.net. For almost four years the Manning family has been trying to receive media coverage and justice for their 30-year-old physically disabled son, who is now serving a 12-30 year prison term in Pennsylvania on what the justice system defined as first-degree murder.
But Michael and his lawyer, Salvatore Vito, have clearly demonstrated a case of self-defense. On September 15th, 1999 a jury of nine women and three men (not his peers) of Monroe County of Pennsylvania convicted Michael Manning for the third-degree murder of Harry Burley Jr. on June 16,1997. Michael, friends, co-workers and family all took the stand and came to one conclusion, self-defense. According to Michael's lawyer and his parents, on June 16th 1997 Michael was on his way to pick up his mother from work. Noticing he needed gas, Michael pulled into a gasoline station. Michael also noticed he was being followed and subsequently endured an unexpected knife attack by two men. One was Michael's stepsister's boyfriend, Harry Burely, and the other, Tyrone, who is a drug dealer and well known to the Court of Monroe County. After a few minute of struggling to defend himself, Harry Burely fell to the ground.
The real tragedy was when the investigation and trial started. The D.A. and Detective Thomas Lynott cleared Michael of any charges. However on November 5th,, 1997 Michael Manning was arrested even though the fingerprints on the knife at the time didn't match Michael's. During Michael's case, justice was nowhere in courtroom. First, the lack of fingerprints, and instructions from the D.A. to the jury "to bring back a verdict or he would have to sharpen his jury selection skills". Although the accomplice of the attack was proven to be a well-known drug dealer who had previously lied in another police matter and was currently on parole, he was allowed to testify. To completely close the door on justice, Michael's parents found out that Judge Ronald E. Vican made a racial remark at another self-defense case of a Black man, stating, "I suspect this goes back to the cultural thing." He then invoked Michael Manning's name and spoke of the case. The D.A. made derogatory remarks of Michael's disability after he demonstrated his walk to the jury. These remarks and the lack of awareness of Michael's physical limitations are stunning when you consider that Judge Ronald E. Vican has a noticeable disability and his wife is a physical therapist.
Now it is 2001 and the Manning family is still trying to find justice and media for their son. The latest news is that on Thursday April 5th Michael was scheduled for an evidential hearing with a new judge. The judge has a reputation of being a "man of justice." I pray for justice for Michael but he and his family needs you, i.e. the Black community, the media, and his disabled brothers and sisters all across this country. Through e-mail the Manning family has reaffirmed why I do what I do. The parents of Michael Manning have contacted many disabled organizations and on-line disabled groups, but didn't get any support. The same goes for certain Black organizations. For example, Michael's parents contacted the NAACP, Jesse Jackson's organization Rainbow-PUSH and Rev. Al Sharpton. The only response the Manning family received is from Jesse Jackson, plus the Black media. Our disabled brothers and sisters of color are fighting to stay alive but we can't do it alone!

Here are some resources for more information on how you can get involved in helping rescue people with disabilities who are searching for justice and fighting to stay alive:
For family members who have a loved one on death row who is mentally disabled: -

Join The United Nation Economic & Social Council Campaign to eliminate the death penalty for persons who are mentally disabled on-line at www.geocities.com title: STOP KILLING MENTALLY RETARDED or go to your local Association of Retarded Citizens, ARC. The U.S. Senate will vote on it next session. -

For family with disabled youth in Juvenile Justice contact: -

The National Center on Education, Disability, and Juvenile Justice
University of Maryland
1224 Benjamin Building
College Park, MD 20742
(301) 405-6462
www.edjj.org

Protection & Advocacy
100 Howe Ave. ST 185N
Sacramento, CA. 95825
(916) 488-9955

Victims of crime contact: -

International Coalition on Abuse and Disability
www.quasar.ualberta.ca/ddc/ICAD/icad.html -
Office for Victims of Crime ( Provided funding to the
National
Organization for Victims Assistance, NOVA for the project Working with
Crime Victims with Disabilities
www.ojpusdoj.gov/ovc/ (They offer grants and etc.…) -
Crime Victims with Disabilities Initiative
State Department of Mental Health
1600 9th Ave Room 100
Sacramento, CA. 95814
(910) 654-6567 - Lisa Bowman (They are looking for
speaker to do training and lectures on this issue)

Leroy F. Moore Jr.
Founder & Executive Director of
Disability Advocates of Minorities Organization & Poet
5\15\01