Retarded

ATLANTA -- When you think about it -- and, promisingly, an increasing number of us are -- it is distinctly odd that the U.S. Supreme Court should even be taking up two cases questioning the execution of the retarded. This is one of two lines that should mark the death penalty off as unthinkable even to its supporters. If there can be any case for execution, the case must be founded on a moral bedrock that holds only the knowing and the capable to the ultimate account for capital crimes.

Kaiser Permanente will stop buying furniture with flame retardants because of the potentially harmful chemicals they may contain - the first health system in the country to adopt such a measure. The California-based Kaiser, with 19 Medical facilities and 7 administrative buildings in Maryland, said that its new and remodeled buildings will follow the new standard when buying furniture. The decision could affect more than 38 hospitals and 600 medical offices in eight states and Washington, D.C. Kaiser spends about $30 million a year to furnish its facilities.

The opening of a new group home in Northwest Baltimore recently has allowed four mentally retarded young people who had been treated out of state to return to Maryland, where they can be closer to their families and their care costs considerably less.The home, on Thornbury Road in Mount Washington, is operated under the auspices of the Chimes -- a private, non-profit program based in Baltimore that provides education, vocational training and supervised homes to children and adults who are mentally retarded or have related conditions.

Children's health advocates are calling on state legislatures to ban flame retardants in baby's products after testing found the toxic chemicals in 85 percent of items it tested. The toxic retardants were found in nursing pillows, car seats and other popular baby products, according to a report released Monday by Maryland PIRG and Washington Toxics Coalition and Safer States . The groups said the flame retardants are linked to cancer, hormone disruption and other health problems.   Children and families are exposed to the compounds, called Tris chemicals, when they escape from household items and contaminate house dust and indoor air, the groups said.

A 35-year-old man is not mentally retarded and understood the consequences when he confessed to setting a fire that killed a man last April, a psychologist testified in Carroll Circuit Court yesterday.Dr. Lawrence Donner of Pikesville gave his opinion during nearly four hours of testimony in a hearing to determine if statements John Woodward made to police were voluntary and legally obtained.Woodward is a former resident of the apartment building at 88 W. Main St. he is accused of setting on fire.

Though the Supreme Court has prohibited the execution of the mentally retarded, a Texas death row inmate who might be retarded cannot raise the issue in federal court because his lawyer missed a filing deadline, a federal appeals court ruled this week. The inmate, Marvin Lee Wilson, has "made a prima facie showing of mental retardation," a unanimous three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in an unsigned decision on Tuesday, meaning that the court presumed Wilson to be retarded for purposes of its ruling.

Larry Drake figures he likes baseball for the same reason that H. L. Mencken might: "It's an intelligent game."And he likes H. L. Mencken because "I think I kind of look like him."But when he appeared in the stands at Memorial Stadium yesterday wearing an Orioles' cap speckled with souvenir baseball pins, there was no question about who he was:"Benny! That's Benny!" yelled a woman as she sent her son clambering over the bleachers, program and pen in hand, for an autograph.Despite his latest appearance in the movie "Darkman" as a thoroughly convincing and completely sadistic bad guy with the nasty habit of cutting people's fingers off with a cigar cutter, or even a vague resemblance to H. L. Mencken, to most people, Larry Drake is "Benny."

A Westminster man who told investigators he set fires when he became angry after people called him "stupid" was found guilty yesterday of arson, but not criminally responsible for three downtown fires that heavily damaged the Goodwill retail store, historic Cockey's Tavern and a nearby garage. Clarence E. Mullinix, 30, of the 200 block of E. Main St. pleaded not guilty and agreed to be tried on a statement of facts by Senior State's Attorney Brian L. DeLeonardo. Carroll Circuit Judge Michael M. Galloway found Mullinix guilty, but not responsible, and ordered that he be committed to state custody at Rosewood Center, a secure facility for the mentally retarded in Baltimore County, until he no longer represents a danger.

The father of a mentally retarded man who died Friday as city police officers tried to subdue him is saying that the death might have been avoided had officers more fully understood the man's limitations.Carl Clemmons said yesterday that officers did not beat or hurt his 28-year-old son Michael, who he said had the mind of a 2-year-old. But Clemmons said miscommunication might have prolonged the struggle inside the house in the 1900 block of E. 29th St."I thought [the officers] acted properly," Clemmons said.

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court overturned the death sentence of a mentally retarded Texas man yesterday, ruling that jurors had not been clearly instructed that they could consider his mental defects and the abuse he suffered as a child in deciding on his sentence. The 6-3 decision was the second time in 12 years that the court ruled in favor of Johnny Paul Penry, a convicted killer whose case has focused national attention on the execution of the mentally retarded. The court ruled in 1989 that his first death sentence was unconstitutional because Texas law did not allow jurors to take into account such factors as retardation and child abuse when deliberating in a capital case.

State roads have been drenched in ice-melting chemicals, and as today dawns, the workers who operate Maryland's snowplows should have had a good night's rest to prepare for a sleep-deprived weekend. By late morning, the plows should be in position to jump into action if and when the flakes - 18 to 24 inches, if you believe forecasters - begin to fall. State Highway Administration spokeswoman Valerie Burnette Edgar said road crews in most of the state spent Thursday applying salt brine intended to slow freezing on the roads.

Maryland advocates for a ban on a toxic flame retardant that accumulates in the environment and has been linked to cancer and brain development problems intend to pursue an earlier phaseout of the chemical than the timeline currently spelled out in a recent federal agreement. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced last month that the three largest manufacturers and importers of decabromodiphenyl ether, also known as decaBDE, had negotiated a pact to phase out the chemical, used in upholstery, mattresses, electronics and more, by 2013.

Does terminology matter? Turns out it matters quite a lot, especially if it's about a person's intellectual disability. This is why the U.S. Senate is considering a bill to replace the term "mental retardation" and "mentally retarded" with "intellectual disability" and "individual with an intellectual disability" in federal health, education and labor policy statutes. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, Democrat of Maryland, introduced "Rosa's Law" on Nov. 17. Senator Mikulski's bipartisan bill would have far-reaching effects because the term is used to establish eligibility for many federal benefits and services.

A teenage boy charged as an adult with murder in the shooting death of a man in an apparent drug deal and robbery plot is not competent to stand trial because he is mentally retarded, his lawyer said yesterday. Defense attorney Carroll McCabe entered a not-guilty plea on behalf of her client, Ross Ethan Womick, 16, and filed a motion asserting that he is not competent yesterday in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court. "There's been testing, and, based on that testing, he's not competent due to mental retardation," McCabe said after the hearing, declining to elaborate.

An epidemic of thyroid disease among pet cats could be caused by toxic flame retardants that are widely found in household dust and some pet food, government scientists reported last week. The often-lethal disease was rare in cats until the 1980s, when it began appearing widely. A the time, industry started using large volumes of brominated flame retardants in products, including furniture cushions, electronics, mattresses and carpet padding. Scientists from the Environmental Protection Agency noted a possible connection between hyperthyroidism and flame retardants.

Though the Supreme Court has prohibited the execution of the mentally retarded, a Texas death row inmate who might be retarded cannot raise the issue in federal court because his lawyer missed a filing deadline, a federal appeals court ruled this week. The inmate, Marvin Lee Wilson, has "made a prima facie showing of mental retardation," a unanimous three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in an unsigned decision on Tuesday, meaning that the court presumed Wilson to be retarded for purposes of its ruling.

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court returned yesterday to the issue of whether killers who are mentally retarded should face the death penalty, weighing whether its decision to uphold such executions 13 years ago should be reversed because of changing public opinion on capital punishment. The question before the court is whether executing a convicted murderer who is mentally retarded violates the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The court is reviewing the case of a Virginia man, Daryl R. Atkins, who has an IQ of 59 but was found competent to stand trial.

YORKTOWN, Va. - Three years ago, in the case of a Virginia man named Daryl R. Atkins, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to execute the mentally retarded. But Atkins' recent test scores could eliminate him from that group. His scores have increased, a defense expert said, thanks to the mental workout his participation in years of litigation gave him. The Supreme Court, which did not decide whether Atkins was retarded, noted that he scored 59 on an IQ test in 1998.