The Death Penalty and the Mentally Retarded

In the U.S. today the estimated amount of people suffering from mental retardation ranges from six to eight million people. A very controversial issue dealing with this segment of society is whether or not they should have to face the death penalty. Many people believe in an "eye for an eye", that if they kill someone then they should die also. The question arises, what if the person who killed someone is mentally retarded, how do you punish them? If the person who committed the heinous crime does not understand what they did is wrong, is it fair to punish them? For many years this issue has been argued and has gone both ways. Many mentally retarded people have been executed, but yet many have been able to avoid execution by being placed in a mental institution. Still, twenty-five of the fifty states allow people who are mentally retarded to receive the death penalty as a punishment for their actions, and it should be eliminated from the united states completely.…