(WOIO) -
Ohio death row inmate Abdul Awkal is scheduled
to die by lethal injection on June 6, 2012, despite having a serious mental
illness that renders him incompetent to be executed. Mr. Awkal was recently
evaluated by an expert who found that he does not have a rational understanding
of the reasons for this punishment and thus does not meet the legal standard
necessary for execution.
"Mr. Awkal is very seriously mentally ill and
does not understand why he is being executed. To go through with the execution
given these circumstances would be a grave injustice and a constitutional nightmare,"
said David A. Singleton, Executive Director of the Ohio Justice & Policy
Center and attorney for Mr. Awkal on an unrelated civil case. "It is
urgent that we make Mr. Awkal's story known," added Singleton.
Mr. Awkal suffers from schizoaffective disorder
and has a well-formed delusional system. Due to his mental illness, Mr.
Awkal sincerely believes that he has orchestrated the U.S. military's efforts
in Iraq and Afghanistan from death row, and that he has been in direct
communication with the CIA and Presidents George W. Bush and Barack
Obama. In Mr. Awkal's mind, he is not being executed for the crimes he
committed in 1992, but rather because the CIA wants him dead.
The stakes involved in this case are high, not
only for Mr. Awkal who may lose his life, but also for the state of Ohio, which
may carry out an execution in the face of evidence that Mr. Awkal is too ill to
be put to death. Governor Kasich has the power to commute Mr. Awkal's
sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole and may make a
decision on clemency as soon as Tuesday, May 29, 2012.
The Ohio Justice & Policy Center got
involved with Mr. Awkal's case when a team of students from the Salmon P. Chase
College of Law's Constitutional Litigation Clinic represented Mr. Awkal on a
civil case under the supervision of David Singleton. Mr. Awkal was
seeking religious meals from the Ohio prison system. That case was
resolved earlier this year.
The Ohio Justice & Policy Center is a
non-profit law office working to reform Ohio's criminal justice system and to
protect the civil rights of Ohio citizens who have become involved in the
criminal justice system. With a history of collaboration across ideological and
political lines, OJPC has a record of high quality advocacy for smart,
evidence-based approaches to a fairer system of justice.
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