last updated July 1,2004 

Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights opposes the death penalty in all circumstances, particularly for individuals with mental retardation. Execution of the mentally retarded is a practice that is condemned worldwide, by the U.S. federal government and eighteen U.S. states. It can be certain, too, that those states which do not have a death penalty also condemn the execution of the mentally retarded.  Most recently, the Supreme Court has added its leverage by ruling that executing the mentally retarded is unconstitutional.