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Laurie Mellas-Ramirez, 277-5915

February 22, 2002

UNM PROFESSOR ELLIS ARGUES BEFORE U.S. SUPREME COURT

University of New Mexico Professor of Law James W. Ellis this week argued before the United States Supreme Court about the constitutionality of putting to death the mentally retarded.

Ellis argued on behalf of Virginia death row inmate Daryl Atkins who he says has a measured IQ of 59.

The New York Times reported Feb. 20 that 13 years ago, the Supreme Court refused to declare that the Constitution categorically barred the execution of retarded people, ruling insufficient evidence of a national consensus.

Ellis argued that states are now rapidly moving toward the position that executing the retarded is unacceptable. States that carry the death penalty, but ban execution of the mentally retarded, has grown from two to 18.

Retarded people may not have the ability to understand the legal system and participate fully in their own defense, Ellis said, noting that one result is a higher risk for wrongful convictions.

The case is Atkins v. Virginia, No. 00-8452. A decision is expected by July.

In October, Ellis was awarded The Arc of the United States 2001 Call to Action Award for his efforts on behalf of people with mental retardation.

At UNM since 1976, Ellis currently teaches constitutional rights, introduction to constitutional law, mental health and retardation law, rights of children and mental disability in criminal cases.

He earned his A.B. in 1968, Occidental College; J.D. in 1974, University of California, Berkeley; and is a member of the District of Columbia Bar.

He served as law reporter for the A.B.A. Criminal Justice Standards project and president of the American Association on Mental Retardation. He has filed briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court in nine other cases, most recently Kansas v. Hendricks (1997).

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