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U.S. NEWS Monday 30 october 2017

Arkansas poised to execute man amid fight over mental health

By KELLY P. KISSEL will take up Greene’s case. son saying it would be “mor-
Associated Press The inmate hasn’t always ally and ethically wrong” to
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — made it easy for his attor- execute Greene.
Jack Greene’s lawyers say neys. While pleading for “Mr. Greene’s illness mani-
he’s severely mentally ill. clemency, he told the Ar- fests itself in extreme physi-
The Arkansas death row in- kansas Parole Board this cal contortions, in self-mu-
mate says they’re lying. month that his lawyers are tilation, and in delusional
As Greene approaches a wrong to call him “delu- beliefs he holds about a
Nov. 9 execution date, his sional” and that courts conspiracy against him
lawyers are raising ques- have routinely found him between his attorneys and
tions about who should de- competent. He also told prison officials,” the mental
termine his mental compe- the board, “I knew what I health professionals wrote.
tency. Arkansas gives con- was doing to him,” when Greene stood throughout In this on Oct. 4, 2017, frame grab from video, Arkansas death
siderable weight to its prison he tortured Burnett for an his Oct. 4 appearance be- row inmate Jack Greene appears before the state parole board
director’s opinion in decid- hour before shooting him. fore the Parole Board, fidg- at a prison in Varner, Ark.
ing whether a condemned When a doctor testified eting and fumbling through Associated Press
inmate has the mental ca- that Greene has done documents that, he says, because he uncovered a to Arkansas for his murder
pacity to understand his headstands during exami- promised him a transfer to purported (and to Greene, trial on the condition that
execution; Greene’s law- nations and even in court- his home state North Caro- successful) conspiracy he would be returned if
yers want doctors to have rooms, Greene told the lina, where authorities say among guards and lawyers he received any sentence
a greater say. panel that he does yoga to he killed a brother days be- to torture the inmate and other than the death pen-
“The system is really quite remain “functional.” fore killing Burnett. Blood- dissolve his central nervous alty. Greene knows a trans-
antiquated,” John Williams, Williams says the seemingly ied, rolled up strands of tis- system and spinal column. fer is a lifeline, Assistant
an attorney for Greene, lucid moments mask severe sue stuck out of both ears “He thinks that the De- Attorney General Kathryn
said in an interview. “(Pris- mental illness. and his left nostril; his law- partment of Correction Henry said.
on director) Wendy Kelley “A lot of people who are yers say that is a symptom cannot send him back to The governor said Friday
is an arm of the state. She mentally ill don’t think of Greene’s mental illness. North Carolina because that he was still reviewing
doesn’t have the expertise they’re mentally ill,” the “If I could go back to North he knows too much about Greene’s file after Parole
to make that determina- lawyer said. Carolina and get medical what has happened to him Board members recom-
tion.” Greene was con- The case has drawn the at- treatment, that would be in prison,” Williams said. mended that he not spare
victed for the 1991 killing tention of both the Ameri- great, but if not, let’s come “They won’t send him back the inmate’s life.
Sidney Jethro Burnett after can Bar Association and on with this execution,” he to North Carolina, so they Greene’s execution would
Burnett and his wife ac- a collection of 28 mental told the panel. have to execute him.” be Arkansas’ first since it
cused Greene of arson. At health professionals, who Williams says Greene be- Baloney, state lawyers say. put four men to death in an
least one court this week wrote to Gov. Asa Hutchin- lieves he’s being executed North Carolina sent Greene eight-day period in April.q

Court orders Arizona tribe to recognize same-sex marriages

PHOENIX (AP) — A tribal of 1968. said he would not appeal ma-Maricopa Indian Com- the right to marry to same-
court has cleared the way “This decision made it the ruling. munity, the Fort McDowell sex couples nationwide.
for gay couples to marry clear that the tribal law “Today marks the conclu- Yavapai Nation, the Pas- While their marriage was
on an American Indian was unconstitutional un- sion of a lengthy but nec- cua Yaqui Tribe and the recognized in Arizona, the
reservation in the Phoenix der tribal law” and not just essary legal exercise — White Mountain Apache certificate was meaning-
area after a two-year le- U.S. federal law, said attor- one that respects the rights tribe. The Arizona Republic less on the reservation.
gal battle that could have ney Sonia Martinez, who of tribal members and hon- reported . Pablo said she never set
repercussions for Native represented the same-sex ors the sacred sovereignty Cleo Pablo, who grew up out to be an activist, but
Americans elsewhere. couple in the lawsuit. “I and self-governance of on the Ak-Chin Reservation just to get the same rights
The court ruled that same- have no idea if other tribes the Ak-Chin Indian Com- south of the Valley, filed as any other married cou-
sex couples have a funda- are going to do the same munity,” Miguel said. the lawsuit. ple.
mental right to marry un- thing, but I think it at least The court ruling said four She and her longtime part- “You’re taught growing up
der the constitution of the opens the door.” other Arizona tribes recog- ner, Tara Roy-Pablo, mar- that you have to stand up
Ak-Chin community and Ak-Chin Indian Community nize same-sex marriages, ried shortly after the U.S. for what’s right,” she said.
the Indian Civil Rights Act Chairman Robert Miguel including the Salt River Pi- Supreme Court extended “I actually did it.”q