Earlier this week I reported on the pending execution of John Ferguson for Truthout. Ferguson is a 64-year-old Florida prisoner scheduled for lethal injection on October 16 for a 1977 mass murder. The problem is that Ferguson is a severely paranoid schizophrenic who believes that he is the “Prince of God.” The Supreme Court has ruled, twice, that executing the mentally ill is unconstitutional if they don’t understand the rationale behind their sentence.
Florida prosecutors have been arguing that Ferguson is faking his delusions, what psychiatrists call “malingering”. After a competency hearing this week, a Florida judge has finally admitted that Ferguson is indeed delusional. Yet he has ruled that despite these delusions, Ferguson is competent for execution. Ferguson’s attorney, Christopher Handman, released this statement in response to the ruling:
“Today, Judge Glant of the Circuit Court of the Eighth Judicial Circuit found, based on what he called “credible and compelling” testimony from John Ferguson’s experts that John (1) is suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, (2) has genuine “Prince of God” delusions, and (3) is not feigning or malingering any of these psychoses. Despite his findings that John is severely mentally ill, the judge ruled that John is nonetheless mentally competent for execution because he knows, as a factual matter, that the State plans to execute him.
“The Supreme Court’s decision in Panetti v. Quarterman requires a rational understanding of why an individual is being put to death and the consequences of the death penalty. Nationally-recognized experts in neuropsychiatry and forensic psychology examined John and testified that he lacks a rational understanding of why he is being put to death and the effect of the death penalty. The Judge believed them. And for nearly 50 years, Florida’s own psychiatrists have diagnosed John as schizophrenia, psychotic and severely mentally impaired.
“It is impossible to fathom that the State can constitutionally put to death a man who thinks he is the Prince of God and who believes he has a destiny of being the right hand of God and returning to purify earth after the State tries to kill him. That simply is not a rational appreciation for what’s about to befall him. We are confident that either the Florida Supreme Court or the U.S. Supreme Court will prevent this unconstitutional execution from going forward. “
While I appreciate your passion in this regard re: Mr. Ferguson, in my opinion you simply are either ignorant to, or not aware of, the facts here. I have first hand knowledge of Ferguson’s crimes. They were calculated. Premeditated. Utterly ruthless and without mercy. My father owned a business in Miami. He came into work and had a 357 put to his head, and was told if he moved he’d have his head blown off. After finding no money in the business he took everyone’s jewelry and kidnapped a 17 year old secretary who my father had hired as part of a community outreach program. He took her to the Everglades and tried to rape her. He couldn’t penetrate her as she was a virgin. He demanded a ransom from my Dad, and the FBI became involved. Dad called me from a drive-in where the drop was to be made. I was in 5th grade and he was in a bullet proof vest. This “insane” person saw the police, threw the girl out of the car and drove away. When he was eventually caught, the police called my Dad. He asked when he would be testifying. Never, because they had him on the other crimes. Does the scenario that I described above sound like the actions of a psychopath, or of a cold and calculating sociopath?
Ms. Khalek, picture yourself, at 17, in the back seat of an Oldsmobile, with your clothes ripped away, Ferguson breathing on you, trying to penetrate you and end your innocence. Your life will NEVER be the same.
I will toast with absolute joy Mr. Ferguson’s death on Thursday. And since you don’t believe in Hell, I hope it is a long and painful execution.
[…] delusional, he was found to be competent for execution. Ferguson’s attorney, Christopher Handman, released this statement in response to the ruling: “Today, Judge Glant of the Circuit Court of the Eighth Judicial […]
Hello Ms. Khalek, I am the son of one of the men among the group of six that Ferguson killed. I was anti death penalty until a relative alerted me to what is happening with the Ferguson case; now my feelings are running in both directions. I don’t believe Ferguson’s death will bring me any relief or closure however my sister is convinced it will help her deal with the lasting pain and is anxious to see him put to death. Ferguson took so much from my family that if there is the slightest possibility that his death will help my sister then I guess I’m for it on those grounds alone. I don’t believe for one moment that Ferguson is mentally ill. As a result of his actions I grew up in a single parent home in an extremely violent neighborhood; a situation unfortunately faced by millions of African American males including Ferguson. Additionally, I have suffered from emotional scarring and chronic depression for most of my life. Notwithstanding my background and mental illness I’ve never killed anyone or participated in a pattern of violent or abusive activity. I can not begin to describe to you the pain I’ve experienced for the last 35 years after losing my dad. I’ve often been suicidal when dealing with the hurt caused by Ferguson. I’ve seen others in my family turn to drugs ruining their lives in the process trying to deal with the pain. That said, I don’t hate Ferguson, I don’t hate anyone. But like I said before, if my sister can find peace as a result of his death, then that is a small price to pay for what has been taken from us. Our father wasn’t taken, our lives; our souls; our hope, faith, joy, our very futures were taken. Yes, we’re both college educated and have lived as contributing members of society however we both live as shells; as fragments of a whole person – we both have lived a bitter, painful and tumultuous life since the day our dad was executed. I’ve toyed with the idea of visiting Ferguson. I wanted to meet the man who had as much of an impact on my life as any by, ironically, taking the life of the man that gave me life. Ferguson stole the lives of not only those he murdered but also of the fatherless children he left behind. We have lived as broken people & we will die as broken people. I’m not sure why I’m telling you all this, I guess I just felt like someone should know as his crimes occurred so long ago it may be too easy for people to forget that the pain & hell he created persists.
Regards.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. I hesitated to answer right away because I wanted to consider how I might feel if I were in you or your sister’s shoes.
I’m extremely close with my family. Just the thought of one of them being so viscously ripped away from me makes me both sad and furious. But, like you, I don’t believe seeing the perpetrator murdered by the state would help alleviate my suffering. Perhaps it would temporarily for your sister, but in the end it doesn’t bring back the victims and vengeance doesn’t heal anyone, it just leaves people broken.
I think one of the many problems with the death penalty is that it makes it more difficult for victim’s loved one’s to move on because the appeals process draws out and rehashes the ugly memories of the crime for years, sometimes even decades. In Ferguson’s case, it’s been nearly 40 years.
Regardless of what you or I think, Ferguson is indeed mentally ill, a conclusion reached by several state appointed psychiatrists and nationally renowned experts. (If you don’t mind my asking, what leads you to believe he’s not mentally ill?). Executing someone like Ferguson who lacks any rational understanding of the reason for his sentence, undermines retributive justice, the theory that our entire system of punishment is based on.
As for my own beliefs I think execution is wrong because it’s immoral. On top of that, I feel it’s unwise to allow the state to kill it’s citizens as punishment because of the scary potential for abuse, like the fact that African Americans are more likely to receive the death penalty than their white counterparts, especially if the victim is white. Then there’s the prospect of executing the wrongfully convicted, which we know has happened repeatedly and is more likely to happen to the vulnerable (mentally ill, intellectually disabled, poor people, people of color, etc.). Since you say you’re generally anti-death penalty, I assume you are familiar with all of these things, but I felt I should clarify my position.
As for mental illness, I have a relative who suffers from schizophrenia and is dangerous when off his meds. It’s a debilitating disease that makes it impossible to lead a normal life and requires constant care/supervision, particularly for those prone to violence. I’m not saying this to make you feel bad for Ferguson, I certainly don’t, but it’s important to understand that the deinstitutionalization that took place in this country throughout the 1960s and 70s combined with the utter failure of our government to properly fund mental health care has left millions of mostly poor Americans without access to desperately needed services. As I’m sure you know, Ferguson was in the care of Florida’s mental health hospitals prior to his crimes, yet was released despite psychiatrists’ warnings that he was dangerous. By executing the mental ill, it’s as if the state is trying to dispose of the people that it has neglected rather than acknowledge that we have a crisis of care in this country.
What Ferguson put your family through is inexcusable. But what could possibly be gained by executing him? Executing Ferguson would simply allow the state to pat themselves on the back for “supporting the victims” while continuing to ignore its role in the lead up to the crime in question.
Ferguson is not a good guy, but you gotta admit he has some mental issues. It is amazing that the judge decided Ferguson is sane because he sounds like a “relatively normal Christian.” You gotta wonder what Christians think of this comparison. Besides, I can’t imagine Jesus wouldn’t be the biggest fan of the death penalty, having been victimized by it himself. Check out my blog post on madness and the Bible at http://biblefunmentionables.com/2012/10/16/claiming-youre-jesus-bff-can-prove-youre-sane-and-get-you-killed/