In the state of Georgia, a person with a diagnosis of intellectual disability, regardless of severity, must prove their intellectual disability “beyond a reasonable doubt.” Further, the intellectual disability must be introduced not just during sentencing, but also during the trial phase. This standard of proof is the narrowest of any state in the entire country. To date, no one has been able to meet that standard. The US Supreme Court may soon hear a Georgia case, Young vs. Georgia, challenging the extraordinary burden placed on capital defendants with intellectual disabilities.
Georgia Catholics Against the Death Penalty invite you to join us for a discussion on intellectual and developmental disabilities, what Georgia’s standard of proof means for people with disabilities and actions we can all take to work toward the reform of our criminal justice system.
We will be joined by Brian Stull, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU Capital Punishment Project and lead counsel on the Young vs. Georgia case. Additional panelists include Maggie Rousseau (Director of Disabilities Ministry) and Jayna Hoffacker (Associate Director of Justice and Peace Ministries) of the Archdiocese of Atlanta, and Frank Mulcahy, Executive Director of the Georgia Catholic Conference.
