The Curious Case of Charles Singleton - Essay Example

The Curious Case of Charles Singleton When a person commits a horrifying criminal act such as stabbing an innocent person to death, the knee-jerk reaction will be to have him put to death. For that is the kind of punishment that as resident of the state, we have decided that any person who takes a life must be subjected to. But what if that person is found to be legally insane and not in full control of his mental faculties at the time he committed the crime? Should he still then be put to death?

That is the question that was raised by the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court decision to execute long time death row inmate Charles Singleton for the multiple stabbing murder of grocery clerk Mary Lou York. Though Singleton was originally given the death sentence, he managed to remain alive through the long and tedious appeals process, based upon the claim that he was medically diagnosed as a schizophrenic and therefore did not have full control of his mental faculties at the time he committed the act on June 1, 1979.

But on January 6, 2004, the United States Supreme Court put an end to the delay on his execution, which at one point in time had been placed on hold and eventually commuted to life without parole (Gottleib, 2003) and ordered the longest staying death row inmate to finally be executed. Those who opposed his execution did so on the basis that it was not humane to execute a person who is legally declared to be mentally ill. It is their opinion that his execution violated a 1986 Supreme Court ruling that dictated; “.

execution of the mentally ill constituted cruel and unusual punishment. “ (Kimberly, n.d.) If one does not understand that he did was wrong and he is not even conscious of the fact that he committed the crime, then there is no possible way that he can be held accountable for his actions. Their opinion was that he should have instead been placed in a mental institution for life. But the problem is that under medication, Singleton was told about his crime and his punishment was fully explained to him.

He remained medicated for the 24 years that he was in prison and had more than enough time to comprehend his actions and its repercussions. He was sane enough under medication to order his lawyer to stop all legal proceedings that might delay his execution. Therefore, he fully understood what he had done and the punishment that accompanied it. Even more startling, was that it appears he never showed any remorse for his actions while in prison. It is my opinion that the family of the deceased required equal justice to be meted out.

Keeping the killer alive was rewarding him for his actions and allowing him to work the system. After 24 years, it was already a case of justice denied the family of the victim. He was no longer insane at the time of his execution because of his medication. Any rambling and babbling that he did towards the end of his life was most likely part of the act to gain sympathy and another stay on his execution, which did not happen this time. Governor Huckabee and state Attorney General MIke Beebe proceeded properly and constitutionally when they decided to go ahead with the execution of Singleton.

After 24 years, all legal ramifications and medical considerations had already been exhausted. The time was finally right, to give the family justice. Although the decision of the court to overturn the 1986 ruling on the execution of the mentally ill, one has to wonder, how long must the victims family wait before the person is declared legally sane by a government institution? The guilty could keep the act going for his life time if it meant that he could get away with murder. Sources Gottlieb, S. (2003). U.S. court rules that insane prisoners can be executed. BMJ. 326(7386): 415. doi: 10.1136/bmj.326.7386.

415 Kimberly, M. (n.d.) The disturbing death of Charles Singleton. alter.net.Retrieved from http://www.alternet.org/story/17590/the_disturbing_death_of_charles_singleton