The U.S. Supreme Court is back at work, and today it will begin deciding whether or not it will hear the case of Holmes v. Louisiana. What’s at stake is whether or not Brandy Holmes, who is only 23 years old and suffers mental retardation as a result of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, should die by execution for a 2003 murder. The case docket is available online.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a totally preventable cause of mental retardation
When mothers drink alcohol during pregnancy, they damage their unborn child. FAS babies are born with an assortment of disorders, and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is the leading cause of mental retardation in the world.
Brandy Holmes is known to be a victim of her mother’s drinking and suffers from FAS. During Brandy’s trial, her mother testified about drinking alcohol all throughout her pregnancy. Get this: this mother testified that she actually named Brandy after her favorite type of alcohol. Wow. There’s no factual controversy that Brandy’s mental retardation is the result of her mother’s drinking alcohol as she carried Brandy.
Thirty-three states already find that the mental retarded should not be executed – what will the US Supreme Court do?
Right now, 33 states have decided it is wrong to execute those who suffer from mental retardation. For details in the arguments against Louisiana executing this woman, read the amicus curaie brief of the Constitution Project.