Madison v. Alabama

• Decision Date: 27 February 2019
• Docket Number: No. 17-7505,17-7505
• Citation: 203 L.Ed.2d 103,139 S.Ct. 718
• Parties: Vernon MADISON, Petitioner v. ALABAMA
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

139 S.Ct. 718

203 L.Ed.2d 103

Vernon MADISON, Petitioner

v.ALABAMA

No. 17-7505

Supreme Court of the United States.

Argued October 2, 2018

Decided February 27, 2019

Bryan A. Stevenson, Montgomery, AL, for Petitioner.

Thomas R. Govan, Jr., Montgomery, AL, for Respondent.

Bryan A. Stevenson, Angela L. Setzer, Randall S. Susskind, Equal Justice Initiative, Montgomery, AL, for Petitioner.

Steve Marshall, Alabama Attorney General, Clay Crenshaw, Chief Deputy Attorney General, Eric Palmer Assistant Solicitor General, James R. Houts, Deputy Attorney General, Office of the Alabama, Attorney General, Montgomery, AL, for Respondent.

Justice KAGAN delivered the opinion of the Court.

The Eighth Amendment, this Court has held, prohibits the execution of a prisoner whose mental illness prevents him from "rational[ly] understanding" why the State seeks to impose that punishment. Panetti v. Quarterman , 551 U.S. 930, 959, 127 S.Ct. 2842, 168 L.Ed.2d 662 (2007). In this case, Vernon Madison argued that his memory loss and dementia entitled him to a stay of execution, but an Alabama court denied the relief. We now address two questions relating to the Eighth Amendment’s bar, disputed below but not in this Court. First, does the Eighth Amendment forbid execution whenever a prisoner shows that a mental disorder has left him without any memory of committing his crime? We (and, now, the parties) think not, because a person lacking such a memory may still be able to form a rational understanding of the reasons for his death sentence. Second, does the Eighth Amendment apply similarly to a prisoner suffering from dementia as to one experiencing psychotic delusions? We (and, now, the parties) think so, because either condition may—or, then again, may not—impede the requisite comprehension of his punishment. The only issue left, on which the parties still disagree, is what those rulings mean for Madison’s own execution. We direct that issue to the state court for further consideration in light of this opinion.

I

A

This Court decided in Ford v. Wainwright , 477 U.S. 399, 106 S.Ct. 2595, 91 L.Ed.2d 335 (1986), that the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishments precludes executing a prisoner who has "lost his sanity" after sentencing. Id., at 406, 106 S.Ct. 2595. While on death row, Alvin Ford was beset by "pervasive delusion[s]" associated with "[p]aranoid [s]chizophrenia." Id., at 402–403, 106 S.Ct. 2595. Surveying both the common law and state statutes, the Court found a uniform practice against taking the life of such a prisoner. See id., at 406–409, 106 S.Ct. 2595. Among the reasons for that time-honored bar, the Court explained, was a moral "intuition" that "killing one who has no capacity" to understand his crime or punishment "simply offends humanity." Id., at 407, 409, 106 S.Ct. 2595 ; see id., at 409, 106 S.Ct. 2595 (citing the "natural abhorrence civilized societies feel" at performing such an act). Another rationale rested on the lack of "retributive value" in executing a person who has no comprehension of the meaning of the community’s judgment. Ibid. ; see id., at 421, 106 S.Ct. 2595 (Powell, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment) (stating that the death penalty’s "retributive force[ ] depends on the defendant’s awareness of the penalty’s existence and purpose"). The resulting rule, now stated as a matter of constitutional law, held "a category of defendants defined by their mental state" incompetent to be executed. Id., at 419, 106 S.Ct. 2595.

The Court clarified the scope of that category in Panetti v. Quarterman by focusing on whether a prisoner can "reach a rational understanding of the reason for [his] execution." 551 U.S. at 958, 127 S.Ct. 2842. Like Alvin Ford, Scott Panetti suffered from "gross delusions" stemming from "extreme psychosis

." Id., at 936, 960, 127 S.Ct. 2842. In reversing a ruling that he could still be executed, the Panetti

Court set out the appropriate "standard for competency." Id., at 957, 127 S.Ct. 2842. Ford , the Court now noted, had not provided "specific criteria." 551 U.S. at 957, 127 S.Ct. 2842. But Ford had explored what lay behind the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition, highlighting that the execution of a prisoner who cannot comprehend the reasons for his punishment offends moral values and "serves no retributive purpose." 551 U.S. at 958, 127 S.Ct. 2842. Those principles, the Panetti

Court explained, indicate how to identify prisoners whom the State may not execute. The critical question is whether a "prisoner’s mental state is so distorted by a mental illness" that he lacks a "rational understanding" of "the State’s rationale for [his] execution." Id., at 958–959, 127 S.Ct. 2842. Or similarly put, the issue is whether a "prisoner’s concept of reality" is "so impair[ed]" that he cannot grasp the execution’s "meaning and purpose" or the "link between [his] crime and its punishment." Id., at 958, 960, 127 S.Ct. 2842.

B

Vernon Madison killed a police officer in 1985 during a domestic dispute. An Alabama jury found him guilty of capital murder, and the trial court sentenced him to death. He has spent most of the ensuing decades on the State’s death row.

In recent years, Madison’s mental condition has sharply deteriorated. Madison suffered a series of strokes

, including major ones in 2015 and 2016. See Tr. 19, 46–47 (Apr. 14, 2016). He was diagnosed as having vascular dementia, with attendant disorientation and confusion, cognitive impairment, and memory loss. See id., at 19–20, 52–54. In particular, Madison claims that he can no longer recollect committing the crime for which he has been sentenced to die. See Tr., Pet. Exh. 2, p. 8.

After his 2016 stroke, Madison petitioned the trial court for a stay of execution on the ground that he had become mentally incompetent. Citing Ford and Panetti , he argued that "he no longer understands" the "status of his case" or the "nature of his conviction and sentence." Pet. for Suspension in No. CC–85–1385.80 (C. C. Mobile Cty., Ala., Feb. 12, 2016), pp. 11, 14. And in a later filing, Madison emphasized that he could not "independently recall the facts of the offense he is convicted of." Brief Pursuant to Order (Apr. 21, 2016), p. 8. Alabama countered that Madison had "a rational understanding of [the reasons for] his impending execution," as required by Ford and Panetti , even assuming he had no memory of committing his crime. Brief on Madison’s Competency (April 21, 2016), pp. 4–5, 8. And more broadly, the State claimed that Madison could not possibly qualify as incompetent under those two decisions because both "concerned themselves with ‘[g]ross delusions’ "—which all agree Madison does not have. Id., at 2; see ibid. (Madison "failed to implicate" Ford and Panetti because he "does not suffer from psychosis

or delusions").

Expert reports from two psychologists largely aligned with the parties’ contending positions. Dr. John Goff, Madison’s expert, found that although Madison "underst[ood] the nature of execution" in the abstract, he did not comprehend the "reasoning behind" Alabama’s effort to execute him . Tr., Pet. Exh. 2 (Apr. 14, 2016), p. 8; see id., at 9. Goff stated that Madison had "Major Vascular Neurological Disorder

"—also called vascular dementia—which had caused "significant cognitive decline." Ibid. And Goff underscored that Madison "demonstrate[d] retrograde amnesia" about his crime, meaning that he had no "independent recollection[ ]" of the murder. Id., at 8; see id., at 9. For his part, Dr. Karl Kirkland, the court-appointed expert, reported that Madison "was able to discuss his case" accurately and "appear[ed] to understand his legal situation." Tr., Ct. Exh. 1, pp. 10–11. Although Kirkland acknowledged that Madison’s strokes had led to cognitive decline, see id., at 10, the psychologist made no mention of Madison’s diagnosed vascular dementia. Rather, Kirkland highlighted that "[t]here was no evidence of psychosis, paranoia, or delusion." Id., at 9; see ibid. (Madison "did not seem delusional at all").

At a competency hearing, Alabama similarly stressed Madison’s absence of psychotic episodes or delusions. The State asked both experts to affirm that Madison was "neither delusional [n]or psychotic." Tr. 56; see id. , at 22. And its closing argument focused on their agreement that he was not. As the State summarized: "He’s not psychotic. He’s not delusional." Id. , at 81. On the State’s view, that fact answered the competency question because "[t]he Supreme Court is looking at whether someone’s delusions or someone’s paranoia or someone’s psychosis

is standing in the way of" rationally understanding his punishment. Id. , at 82. Madison’s counsel disputed that point. "[T]he State would like to say, well, he’s not delusional, he’s not psychotic," the attorney recapped. Id. , at 83. But, she continued, "[t]hat’s not really the criteria" under Panetti . Tr. 83. Rather, the Court there barred executing a person with any mental illness—"dementia" and "brain injuries" no less than psychosis and delusions—that prevents him from comprehending "why he is being executed." Ibid.

The trial court found Madison competent to be executed. Its order first recounted the evidence given by each expert witness. The summary of Kirkland’s report and testimony began by stating that the psychologist had "found no evidence of paranoia[,] delusion [or] psychosis

." Order (Apr. 29, 2016), p. 5 (2016 Order). The court then noted Kirkland’s view that Madison could "give details of the history of his case" and "appear[ed] to understand his legal situation." Ibid . Turning to the Goff report, the court noted the expert’s finding that Madison was "amnesic" and could not recollect his crime. Id., at 6; see id., at 7. In a single, final paragraph, the court provided both its ruling and its reasoning. Madison had failed to show, the court wrote, that he did not "rationally understand the punishment he is about to suffer and why he is about to suffer it." Id., at 10...