The Texas Death Penalty By Andre Lee Thomas

Texas holds the title for the state with most executions in the United States gaining heavy scrutiny for the use of death penalty. Many are concerned that the death penalty is in direct violation of the 8th amendment of the constitution which forbids the act of cruel and unusual punishment as well as being wrong on a moral level. This becomes a hot button issue when mental illness comes into play as 30% of Texas's incarcerated inmates, have been clients of the state’s mental health system (“Texas Death Penalty”). Andre Lee Thomas is one of those inmates, sentenced to death, but also deemed mentally unstable.
Andre Lee Thomas came from a very modest upbringing with 5 brothers and absent parents. He started displaying signs of mental instability at a young age which progressively worsened as he aged making several suicide attempts. Thomas received multiple detention warrants, many times after hurting himself or in one case, stabbing his own brother. In each of these instances the warrants were not enforced (“Trouble in Mind”). A day after his last detention warrant, Thomas stabs and then removes the hearts of his ex-wife, his son, and his ex-wife’s baby from a new boyfriend. The flaws of Texas’s

Under the aforementioned 8th amendment, cruel and unusual punishment is unconstitutional, but when funding is not available to help diagnose and care for the mentally ill criminals is the easy to let them slip through the cracks. Much like Thomas who despite displaying the severe signs of instability. For instances, while awaiting trial and sentencing Thomas removed both of his eyes with his bare hands, stating he was prompted by a bible verse (“Trouble in Mind”). Concerns begin to rise as to whether or not the death penalty is the proper punishment for a man who is clearly crazy, as well as the legality in the use of the death