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11 August 1999
OPEN LETTER FROM AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL TO PRESIDENT CLINTON, FIRST LADY HILLARY CLINTON, VICE-PRESIDENT GORE AND MRS TIPPER GORE CONCERNING THE IMMINENT EXECUTION OF LARRY ROBISON IN TEXAS
Dear Mr President, First Lady, Mr Vice President and Mrs Gore,
In recent months, you have been at the forefront
of efforts to focus national attention on the
challenges that mental illness presents to
US society, and have launched a national campaign to
eliminate the stigma attached to mental illness
and encourage millions of US citizens with mental
health needs to get help. With this in mind,
Amnesty International wishes to bring to your
attention the plight of a man whose mental
illness is about to cost him his life.
Larry Keith Robison is scheduled to be put
to death by lethal injection in Texas on 17 August
1999, 17 years after he killed five people
in Fort Worth. He has always maintained that the
appalling events of 10 August 1982 were the
result of his chronic visual and auditory
hallucinations brought about by his schizophrenia.
Although he had been diagnosed as suffering
from paranoid schizophrenia three years before
the murders, the Texas mental health care
services repeatedly said that they did not
have the resources to treat him unless he turned violent.
When he did turn violent, the state's response
was to condemn him to death.
Mr President, you noted in your 5 June Radio
Address to the Nation that "the hard truth is, in too
many of our communities, and in too many of
our hearts, mental illness is misunderstood and
feared." How much greater was this ignorance
and fear 17 years ago, when Larry Robison faced
trial in a court in Texas? It seems that the
jurors who sentenced Larry Robison to death did not
believe that his crime could be attributed
to mental illness. Whether this stemmed from their fear,
misunderstanding, or the failure of the defence
to present any of the three doctors who had
diagnosed Larry as suffering from paranoid
schizophrenia, remains unanswered. What is clear is
that, in the absence of a judicial remedy,
it will remain for Governor Bush and his appointees on
the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to
decide Larry Robison's fate. Amnesty International
urges that the White House does everything
in its power and influence to persuade these
decision-makers to grant Larry Robison clemency.
In your remarks at the first White House Conference
on Mental Health on 7 June 1999, Mr
President, you noted that "too many people
with mental illness are not getting treatment because
too many of our health plans and businesses
do not provide equal coverage or parity for mental
and physical illness, or because of the inadequacy
of government." Mrs Gore, as the President's
advisor on mental health policy, you noted
in your own remarks to the Conference that "we want
to encourage more Americans to get the help
that they need, because when they get the help
that they need, and it's the right help, they
can lead productive lives in their communities, in our
society."
Larry Robison was denied the "right" help when
he and his family begged for it. After he was first
diagnosed as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia
at the age of 21, the necessary long-term
treatment was not forthcoming, because he
was not covered by medical insurance. His mother,
Lois Robison, was repeatedly told that there
were not enough resources to treat her son unless
he turned violent. At one time, his family
even left him in jail for six months because they
considered that he would be safer there than
on the streets.
Mr Vice President, you noted in your remarks
to the Conference "that when mental illness
strikes, it affects not only the person who
is involved, but the entire family." You also stated how
"crucially important it is for families to
be supportive and understanding". The Robison family has
been hugely affected by Larry Robison's illness
and his crime. His mother and her husband
supported him before and after the shocking
tragedy of 10 August 1982, and continue to
campaign for his life and welfare to this
day. His execution will make victims of them, as well as
Larry's own wife and teenage daughter.
Mr President, you pointed out to the Conference
that "people with mental illnesses have always
had to struggle to be treated fairly and to
get the treatment they need -- and they still do."
However, you added an optimistic note when
you said that "we have made a lot of progress by
appealing to the better angels of our nature."
You also spoke about how you were continuing to
ask yourself what more could be done "to deal
with the unbelievable tragedies that were plainly
avoidable..." Lois Robison believes that five
people would be alive today and her son would not be
now facing execution if her repeated pleas
for help had been heeded.
Amnesty International respectfully appeals
to you, Mr President, as well as the other members of
the White House who spoke at the 7 June Conference
- The First Lady, Vice-President Gore, and
Mrs Gore - to do everything in your power
and influence to prevent the final act of this tragedy
from being carried out on 17 August.
Yours sincerely
Javier Zúñiga
For the Secretary General
cc: Governor Bush, Austin Texas
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
PUBLIC STATEMENT
USA
Amnesty International welcomes last-minute reprieve for Larry Robison
The eleventh hour reprieve granted to Larry Robison by a Texas court
yesterday provides an
opportunity for the state to turn away from executing the mentally
ill, Amnesty International said today.
We welcome the stay of execution, although we regret that it has taken
Texas so long to do anything
positive for Larry Robison, Amnesty International said.
We hope that the state will now build on this decision and begin to
treat, rather than kill, its citizens
whose mental illness brings them into contact with the capital justice
system.
Larry Robison, a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, was already en route
to the lethal injection
chamber when the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals voted 5-4 to stop
his execution. Robisons lawyers
had filed a last-minute appeal on the grounds that he was unable to
fully comprehend his punishment.
Their success means that he will now have a hearing on the issue.
Amnesty International members worldwide have been appealing for the
past six weeks to Governor
Bush and his appointees on the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to
stop Larry Robisons execution.
The Board voted 17-0 last Friday to reject clemency.
Governor Bush, who is running for US President under the flag of compassionate
conservatism, had
not formally announced his decision on whether to grant a 30-day reprieve
--his only remaining option
following the Boards negative vote -- when the appeal courts ruling
came in.
We had appealed for Governor Bush to use the opportunity presented by
Larry Robisons case to
demonstrate that compassion, as well as respect for international standards,
can become a
characteristic of his leadership, Amnesty International added.
The unexpected, but welcome, last-minute reprieve granted by the court
means that this opportunity is
still alive.
Larry Robison would have become the 98th person to be executed under
the governorship of Mr Bush.
As the Texas conveyor belt of death continues, that appalling statistic
is set to be realised tonight with
the scheduled execution of Joe Mario Trevino.
Background
Larry Robison was diagnosed as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia
in 1979. However, he was
refused the necessary treatment because he had not been violent. When
he did actually commit murder
three years later, he was condemned to death for it.
The juries at Larry Robisons 1983 trial and his retrial in 1987 rejected
his claim of not guilty by reason
of insanity, and his subsequent death sentence has been upheld by state
and federal courts alike over
the past 12 years.
Source: Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street,
WC1X 8DJ, London,
United Kingdom
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