title: The American Psychiatric Association's resource document on mental retardation and capital sentencing: implementing Atkins v. Virginia.
abstract: State legislatures need guidance in implementing the United States Supreme Court's decision in Atkins v. Virginia barring execution of mentally retarded offenders. In this Resource Document, the American Psychiatric Association's Council on Psychiatry and Law, the component charged with developing policies and positions relating to forensic psychiatry, recommends statutory language addressing the definition of mental retardation, procedures relating to its assessment, and qualifications of testifying experts.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry and Public Policy, University of Virginia Schools of Law and Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA. rbonnie@virginia.edu
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Bonnie
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002203:Capital Punishment / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D003416:Criminal Law / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D005104:Expert Testimony / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D035846:Law Enforcement; D016743:Mental Competency / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D016134:Organizational Policy; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000592:standards; D012955:Societies, Medical / Q000592:standards; D013219:State Government; D035521:Supreme Court Decisions; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D014481:United States