Justice, Mercy, and Mental Illness in Death Penalty Cases

Abstract Book of the 10th World Conference on Social Sciences

Year: 2026

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Justice, Mercy, and Mental Illness in Death Penalty Cases

Sun Park

ABSTRACT:

This paper examines how jurisprudential discourse shapes the Supreme Court’s approach to mental illness and intellectual disability in death penalty cases. Drawing on biblical teachings, constitutional law, and modern psychiatric theory, it explores the tension between retributive justice and mercy in determining criminal responsibility.

Keywords: Death Penalty; Jurisprudential Discourse; Insanity Defense; Mental Illness; Intellectual Disability; Eighth Amendment; Retributive Justice