SB71Dead
prohibit capital punishment of any person with severe mental illness.
SB71 prevents South Dakota from executing people who have severe mental illness, adding a new protection to the state's capital punishment laws. Currently, state law allows execution of defendants with mental illness if they understand their punishment and why it's being imposed; this bill removes that option entirely for those with severe mental illness. The change aligns South Dakota with evolving standards about executing people with serious psychiatric conditions.