This study examined the cases of women on death in which evidence of the defendant’s intellectual disability or mental illness was presented at trial. Of the total population of 52 women on death row at the beginning of 2020 and seven recently-executed women, over 50% qualified for the study. According to expert testimony, most of the women in the sample had a below-average IQ score and/or a neurological deficit, and all but three suffered from a serious mental illness. Almost all had abusive and dysfunctional backgrounds. Recent Supreme Court rulings have banned the execution of defendants with intellectual disability and opened the door to a consideration of execution exemption for defendants with severe mental illness or brain abnormalities. However, considerable judicial equivocation over the meaning and measurement of mental impairments remains. Even as a mitigating factor, the mental health problems of the defendants in this study were given little weight.

这项研究检查了死于妇女的案件，在审判中提供了被告智力残疾或精神疾病的证据。到2020年初，有52名处于死囚状态的妇女和最近被处决的七名妇女中，有50％以上符合研究条件。根据专家的证词，样本中的大多数女性智商得分均低于平均水平和/或神经系统缺陷，除三名女性外，其他所有女性均患有严重的精神疾病。几乎所有人都有虐待和功能障碍的背景。最高法院最近的裁决禁止处决智障被告，并为考虑患有严重精神疾病或脑部异常的被告免除执行死刑的机会打开了大门。然而，关于精神障碍的含义和衡量方法，仍然存在相当多的司法模棱两可。即使作为缓解因素，本研究中被告的心理健康问题也没有受到重视。